Spoon River Anthology: An Annotated Edition (Prairie State Books)

Spoon River Anthology: An Annotated Edition (Prairie State Books)

What lies beneath the surface of Masters' timeless classic One of the most striking and original achievements in American poetry is now available in a remarkable edition that comprehends the poet and his book in an entirely new way. This edition of Spoon River Anthology probes the social background of the small-town world that Edgar Lee Masters loved and hated--and finally transmuted into powerful literary art. Extensive annotations identify the people whose lives inspired the 243 poetic accounts of frustration, violence, struggle, and triumph that shocked American readers. The most extraordinary feature of this edition is the extensive introduction that provides the key to this misunderstood American classic. The book's relationship to Whitman is clearly established, and the important influences of Browning, Goethe, Spinoza, and others are revealed for the first time. John Hallwas' approach combines cultural, biographical, philosophical, psychoanalytic, mythic, and symbolic insights--and concludes with a stunning reassessment of "Our New Poet." The annotated Spoon River Anthology supersedes seventy-five years of largely misdirected critical commentary. It will send a new generation of readers back to this surprisingly complex book that probes so deeply into the American consciousness. "Provides a wealth of information that frames specific historical, biographical, and autobiographical background for names, persons, places, and situations alluded to and invoked by the epitaphs in the Anthology. Hallwas brings to bear on the text and its history a detailed overview of previous scholarship, and a knowledge of Illinois history in particular, that will be invaluable for anyone not only writing on Masters, but working in American studies generally." --John Hollander, New Republic "Hallwas's reading of Spoon River is undoubtedly the best and the one the poet intended. This presentation will reinstate [ Spoon River Anthology ] as one of the central works of the modern canon. The painstaking, critical and devoted introduction is indispensable for an understanding of this seminal work of poetry." --Karl Shapiro, Chicago Tribune "The finest offering of Spoon River Anthology to date. Should be in all academic and public libraries."-- Library Journal This first illustrated, annotated version of the American classic was highly praised when it was first released, as much for John Hallwas's insightful introduction as for the work of Edgar Lee Masters. Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950) was the author of many books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. His The Sangamon and Across Spoon River have been reissued in the Prairie State Books series. John E. Hallwas, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Western Illinois University. His books include Studies in Illinois Poetry. and Dime Novel Desperadoes: The Notorious Maxwell Brothers .