William Faulkner, The Faulkner-Cowley File

Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Ed. by Stephen E. Meats, Pittsburg State University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1966

Places

America - North (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Letter(s)

Resources

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The Faulkner-Cowley File: Letters and Memories, 1944-1962

(Viking Press, 1966), by Malcolm Cowley, was published four years after Faulkner’s death. In its first paragraph, Cowley lays out his main reason for writing the book:

Almost every critic dreams of discovering some great work that has been neglected by other critics. Some day might he come upon an author whose reputation is less than his achievement and in fact is scandalously out of proportion with it, so that other voices will be added to the critic’s voice, in a swelling chorus, as soon as he has made the discovery? That is the dream. At least once in my critical career I had the good luck to find it realized. (3: all page citations are to The Faulkner-Cowley File)

Almost every critic dreams of discovering some great…

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2988 words

Citation: Meats, Stephen E.. "The Faulkner-Cowley File". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 May 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39323, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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