Dickens in America: Twain, Howells, James, and Norris [Paperback]

First published in 1988, this book looks at the enormous impact Dickens writings had on American novelists in the second half of the nineteenth century. Dickens dominated not only popular taste but the American novel for sixty years and the author argues that even the most original writers showed themselves again and again to be in conscious sympathy with Dickens. Along with Dickens, this book examines four radically different American writers  Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Henry James and Frank Norris  whose debt to Dickens, the author asserts, is nevertheless clearly evident in their work. This book will be of interest to students of literature.

I. Dickens in America: The Great Actuality of the Current Imagination II. Mark Twain: A Personal Case III. Mark Twain: Dickens Comes to Dawsons Landing IV. Dickens in America: The Finer Art V. William Dean Howells: In the Sweet By and By VI. Henry James: The Illustrators Point of View VII. Dickens in America: The Return to Romance VIII. Frank Norris: The Naturalist as Dickensian; Conclusion: Dickens in America; A Selected Bibliography

First published in 1988, this book looks at the enormous impact Dickens writings had on American novelists in the second half of the nineteenth century. Dickens dominated not only popular taste but the American novel for sixty years and the author argues that even the most original writers showed themselves again and again to be in conscious sympathy with Dickens. Along with Dickens, this book examines four radically different American writers  Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Henry James and Frank Norris  whose debt to Dickens, the author asserts, is nevertheless clearly evident in their work. This book will be of interest to students of literature.