Richard Howard has said that he became a writer to justify being a reader, and he regrets that so many would-be writers read so little. The walls of his apartment are almost completely covered in books, one indication among many that his has been a life suffused with literature. Howard would argue that he is no different from anyone else, since we all see the world mediated through language. He differs only in being more conscious of the way we use texts to make sense of the world and in having so many different texts at his disposal. To complain that Howard is bookish is to complain that he brings to his work the rich resources of his deep and diverse culture; yet he takes after Henry James—one of his most powerful models—in that his erudition is complimented by what some might call…

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Citation: Bergman, David. "Richard Howard". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2230, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2230 Richard Howard 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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