Customer Reviews

The Correspondence of Stephen Crane, Volumes 1 & 2 [I & II]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What better way to understand Stephen Crane than to hear him in his own words? This authoritative edition presents Crane's words in the context of recent scholarship that has shown the flaws in Thomas Beer's fictionalized biography of Crane. The letters that cannot be authenticated because no known copies exist (and because they may have been fabricated) are placed in a separate section with appropriate explanations.

This is the definitive edition of Crane's correspondence and almost doubles the number of known Crane letters since the Stallman and Gilkes edition appeared in 1960. The sectional introductions constitute a short Stephen Crane biography. The footnores are concise and informative.

Like all important university press books, this definitive edition of Crane's correspondence is expensive, but it almost doubles the number of known Crane letters since the 1960 edition edited by Stallman and Gilkes. The introductions to the various sections constitute a short and authoritative Crane biography. The footnotes are economical and to the point.

Isn't it remarkable that an edition of the correspondence of a relatively minor American author published by a university press almost fifteen years ago, directed primarily towrd a readership in academic libraries, and long out of print continues to receive such concerened reviews? Does someone out there have an agenda? Is it perhaps time to get a life?

This book has important information, but I do not think it is worth the money. The letters are published in other places and Mr. Wertheim does not make useful cojmments to help understand the content.

The author Mr. Wertheim says the same thing over and over about Stephen Crane. The letters are interesting but the editors comments are very repetitive and it seems this Wertheim guy is the only one writing about Crane. This is not a good book to buy. Get it at the library if you need the letters and avoid what the editor says. This editor needs to get another person to be interested in!

Stephen Crane wrote many interesting letters and most of them are carefully reprinted in this VERY EXPENSIVE book. The editors seem to think that their beliefs about Crane are the only true ones. Therefore, the comments and introduction are very misleading and after a time you doubt whether they have left certain letters out because of their agenda. This is not the objective book it should be. I cannot recommend it to anyone.