Book Description

Poetand playwright, whose works enjoyed phenomenal success in the early 1900s, William Vaughn Moody's literary reputation seems to have lived under the shadow of his time. In this big and important new work, based on a wealth of unpublished material, Maurice F. Brown brilliantly reassesses Moody's life and mind and brings alive once more a talent which now seems curiously relevant to issues and commit­ments of the 1970s. This major critical biography there­fore repairs the neglect Moody's repu­tation has suffered since the 1930s and reestablishes him if not in the front rank certainly as an important modern American writer. By his thorough study of such primary sources as uncollected poems, articles, and manuscript drafts of published works, Mr. Brown has been able to correct numerous errors of fact and interpretation of Moody's works and thus give new readings to them. In addition, Mr. Brown's research into the letters, journals, and remi­niscences provides a fascinating chapter in the literary history of the period. Impeccably researched and extremely well written, this important biography should interest general readers as well as students of American literature.