Alfred Kazin

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Alfred Kazin (1915–1998) was an author and literary critic who often wrote on the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America.  Philip Roth called him “America’s best reader of American literature in this century.” Kazin's most acclaimed book was On Native Grounds, published in 1942. His memoir, A Walker in the City, recalled a childhood in Brooklyn.

Articles by Alfred Kazin

Summing Up, September 1998 | Vol. 49, No. 5
The Novel of the Century In William Faulkner’s greatest work, a bitter epic of violence and despair resolves itself on a note of love and longing Read >>
Where Would Emerson Find His Scholar Now?, December 1987 | Vol. 38, No. 8
His speech was called “our intellectual Declaration of Independence.” Its theme was the universe itself; its hero, Man Thinking. Now, one hundred and seventy-five years later, a noted scholar sees Emerson’s great vision as both more beleaguered and more urgent than ever. Read >>
Southwestward The Great American Space, April 1987 | Vol. 38, No. 3
A journey through a wide and spellbinding land, and a look at the civilization along its edges. Read >>
Sinclair Lewis Got It Exactly Right, October/november 1985 | Vol. 36, No. 6
He re-created with perfect pitch every tone of voice, every creak and rattle of an America that was disintegrating even as it gave birth to the country we inhabit today Read >>
HEMINGWAY & FITZGERALD: THE COST OF BEING AMERICAN, April/May 1984 | Vol. 35, No. 3
The work of Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald virtually defined what it meant to be American in the first half of this century Read >>
Fear Of The City 1783 To 1983, February/March 1983 | Vol. 34, No. 2
The city has been a lure for millions, but most of the great American minds have been appalled by its excesses. Here an eminent observer, who knows firsthand the city’s threat, surveys the subject. Read >>

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