Literature in the Making
Copyright, 1917, by Harper & Brothers
Printed in the United States of America
Published April, 1917
TO
LOUIS BEVIER, PH.D., LITT.D.
AND
LOUIS BEVIER, JR.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| [WAR STOPS LITERATURE] | [3] |
| WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS | |
| William Dean Howells, the foremost American novelistof his generation, was born at Martin's Ferry, Ohio,March 11, 1837. Most of his many novels have beenrealistic and sympathetic studies of contemporary Americanlife. For some years he has written "The Editor'sEasy Chair" in Harper's Magazine. He has receivedhonorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and Columbia,and in 1915 the National Institute of Arts and Lettersawarded him its Gold Medal "For distinguished workin fiction." The Daughter of the Storage and Years of MyYouth are his latest books. | |
| [THE JOYS OF THE POOR] | [19] |
| KATHLEEN NORRIS | |
| Kathleen Norris was born in San Francisco, California,July 16, 1880. She is the wife of Charles Gilman Norris,himself a writer and the brother of the late Frank Norris.Among Mrs. Norris's best-known novels are Mother,The Story of Julia Page, and The Heart of Rachel. | |
| [NATIONAL PROSPERITY AND ART] | [35] |
| BOOTH TARKINGTON | |
| Booth Tarkington was born in Indianapolis, Indiana,July 29, 1869. A prolific and brilliant writer, he hasscored many successes of different types, being the authorof the romantic drama Monsieur Beaucaire, and of manynovels dealing with contemporary Middle-Western life.Recently he has, in Seventeen and the "Penrod" stories,given his attention to the comedies and tragedies ofAmerican youth. | |
| [ROMANTICISM AND AMERICAN HUMOR] | [45] |
| MONTAGUE GLASS | |
| Montague Glass was born at Manchester, England, July23, 1877. Coming in his youth to the United States,he brought into American fiction a new type—that ofthe metropolitan Jewish-American business man. HisPotash and Perlmutter and Abe and Mawruss have givenhim a European as well as an American reputation. | |
| [THE "MOVIES" BENEFIT LITERATURE] | [63] |
| REX BEACH | |
| Rex Beach was born at Atwood, Michigan, September 1,1877. His novels deal chiefly with the West and theNorth, and his favorite theme is adventurous life in theopen. Among his best-known books are The Spoilers,The Silver Horde, and Rainbow's End. | |
| [WHAT IS GENIUS?] | [75] |
| ROBERT W. CHAMBERS | |
| Robert W. Chambers was born in Brooklyn, New York,May 26, 1865. One of the most widely read writers ofhis time, he has given his attention chiefly to Englishand American society, making it the theme of a largenumber of novels, among which may be mentionedThe Fighting Chance, Japonette, and Athalie. | |
| [DETERIORATION OF THE SHORT STORY] | [89] |
| JAMES LANE ALLEN | |
| James Lane Allen was born near Lexington, Kentucky,in 1849. In 1886 he gave up his profession of teachingto devote his attention to literature. Many of his novelsdeal with the South. Of them perhaps The KentuckyCardinal and The Choir Invisible are best known. | |
| [SOME HARMFUL INFLUENCES] | [101] |
| HARRY LEON WILSON | |
| Harry Leon Wilson was born in Oregon, Illinois, May1, 1867. He was co-author with Booth Tarkington ofThe Man from Home, and his Bunker Bean and Rugglesof Red Gap have given him a great reputation for irresistibleand peculiarly American humor. | |
| [THE PASSING OF THE SNOB] | [119] |
| EDWARD S. MARTIN | |
| Edward Sandford Martin was born in Willowbrook,Owasco, New York, January 2, 1856. His keen yetsympathetic observation of modern life finds expressionin essays, many of which have been used editorially inLife. Several volumes of his essays have been published,among which may be mentioned The Luxury ofChildren, and Some Other Luxuries and Reflections of aBeginning Husband. | |
| [COMMERCIALIZING THE SEX INSTINCT] | [131] |
| ROBERT HERRICK | |
| Robert Herrick was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,April 26, 1868. He has been until recently a professorat the University of Chicago. He is a critic and a writerof realistic novels. The Web of Life, The Common Lot,Together, and Clark's Field are novels that show Mr.Herrick's questioning attitude toward some modernsocial institutions. | |
| [SIXTEEN DON'TS FOR POETS] | [145] |
| ARTHUR GUITERMAN | |
| Arthur Guiterman was born of American parents inVienna, Austria, November 28, 1871. He is a writer ofdeft and humorous light verse, of which a volume wasrecently published under the title The Laughing Muse.He contributes a weekly rhymed review to Life. | |
| [MAGAZINES CHEAPEN FICTION] | [157] |
| GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON | |
| George Barr McCutcheon was born on a farm in TippecanoeCounty, Indiana, July 26, 1866. He is a short-storywriter and novelist, devoting himself chiefly to tales ofadventure. Beverley of Graustark and the volumes thatsucceeded it have gained him many admirers amonglovers of romance. | |
| [BUSINESS INCOMPATIBLE WITH ART] | [169] |
| FRANK H. SPEARMAN | |
| Frank H. Spearman was born at Buffalo, New York,September 6, 1859. He is known both as a short-storywriter and a writer of articles on economic topics. Hisnovels are founded chiefly on themes dealing with thegreat industrial enterprises of the West, especially therailroads. The best known of these are The Daughterof a Magnate and The Strategy of Great Railroads. | |
| [THE NOVEL MUST GO] | [187] |
| WILL N. HARBEN | |
| Will N. Harben, who was born in Dalton, Georgia, July 5,1858, began his career in business in the South. Hisentrance into literature began with the assistant editorshipof the Youth's Companion. He had gained a distinctiveplace as an interpreter of phases of Southern lifein the company which includes Cable, Harris, and Johnston.His novels include Pole Baker, Ann Boyd, SecondChoice, and many others. | |
| [LITERATURE IN THE COLLEGES] | [199] |
| JOHN ERSKINE | |
| John Erskine was born in New York City, October 5,1879. He is Adjunct Professor of English at ColumbiaUniversity, the author of many text-books and criticalworks, of Actæon and Other Poems and of The MoralObligation to be Intelligent and Other Essays. | |
| [CITY LIFE VERSUS LITERATURE] | [213] |
| JOHN BURROUGHS | |
| John Burroughs was born in Roxbury, New York, April3, 1837. He taught school in his early years, and held fora time a clerkship in the United States Treasury. Since1874 he has devoted himself to literature and fruit culture.Among his well-known "Nature" books may benoted Wake Robin, Bird and Bough, and Camping andTramping with Roosevelt. | |
| ["EVASIVE IDEALISM" IN LITERATURE] | [229] |
| ELLEN GLASGOW | |
| Ellen Glasgow was born in Richmond, Virginia, April22, 1874. Her novels, among which may be mentionedThe Voice of the People, The Romance of a Plain Man, andLife and Gabriella, deal chiefly with social and psychologicalproblems, and their scenes are for the most part inthe southern part of the United States. | |
| ["CHOCOLATE FUDGE" IN THE MAGAZINE] | [241] |
| FANNIE HURST | |
| Fannie Hurst was born in St. Louis, October 19, 1889.She has served as a saleswoman and as a waitress andcrossed the Atlantic in the steerage to get material forher short stories of the life of the working-woman, selectionsof which have been published with the titles JustAround the Corner and Every Soul Hath Its Song. | |
| [THE NEW SPIRIT IN POETRY] | [253] |
| AMY LOWELL | |
| Amy Lowell was born in Brookline, Massachusetts,February 9, 1874. She is prominently identified withvers libre, imagisme, and other ultra-modern poetic tendencies.She has published a volume of essays on modernFrench poetry and three books of poems, of which Men,Women, and Ghosts is the most recent. | |
| [A NEW DEFINITION OF POETRY] | [265] |
| EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON | |
| Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in Head Tide,Maine, December 22, 1869. He has written plays, butis chiefly known for his poems, most of them studies ofcharacter. His most recent volume is Merlin: A Poem. | |
| [LET POETRY BE FREE] | [277] |
| JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY | |
| Josephine Preston Peabody was born in New York City.She won the Stratford-on-Avon Prize for her poeticdrama The Piper. She has published many books ofverse, one of which, called Harvest Moon, deals chieflywith woman's tragic share in the Great War. She is thewife of Prof. Lionel Simeon Marks of Harvard. | |
| [THE HERESY OF SUPERMANISM] | [289] |
| CHARLES RANN KENNEDY | |
| Charles Rann Kennedy was born at Derby, England,February 14, 1871. His plays, dealing with social andreligious questions, include The Servant in the House,The Terrible Meek, The Idol-Breakers, and The Rib ofthe Man, his latest work. | |
| [THE MASQUE AND DEMOCRACY] | [305] |
| PERCY MACKAYE | |
| Percy MacKaye was born in New York City, March 16,1875. He has written many poems and plays, and hasbeen especially identified with the production of communitypageants and masques, having written anddirected the St. Louis Civic Masque in 1914, and theShakespeare Masque in New York City in 1916. Amonghis published works may be mentioned The Scarecrow,Jeanne d'Arc, Sappho and Phaon and Anti-Matrimony(plays) and Uriel and Other Poems. |