This is the first of two (to date) LoA compilations of the works of Edmund Wilson, comprised primarily of two volumes published in Wilson's lifetime--"The Shores of Light," itself a compilation of Wilson's articles and reviews published in the '20s and 30s and revised by Wilson in 1952, and "Axel's Castle," a study published in 1931 of major literary figures who wrote from approximately 1870 to 1930, all of whom were formative of or influenced by the rather broad school of "symbolism." If there is any question, Wilson is more than deserving of at least these two volumes. Princeton educated, he seems to have set himself an almost superhuman course of reading and study that lasted a lifetime, he knew most every contemporary of cultural significance, he seems interested in almost everything--culture, politics, literature, history, and he was a brilliant writer and absolute master of the essay or critique. The Shores of Light is a wonderful collection of relatively early essays and reviews. It has fine commentaries on the early Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Dos Passos, Thornton Wilder, and (later) Edna St. Vincent Millay. However, these pieces are very much products of their time. If you are looking for a fine critical perspective at work in the 20's and '30s, this is a marvellous volume. If, however, you are more inclined to the balanced retrospective literary overview, tempered by time and experience, you will be much better served by the second LoA volume that includes Wilson's The Triple Thinkers and Classics and Commercials. That being said, this volume does have certain advantages if you do not necessarily prefer Wilson's literary writing to his socio/political pieces. A great number of the writings here, literary or otherwise, are extremely socially conscious and directed at, what seemed at the time, the very real possibility of the failure of the capitalist system, the possible promise of communism and the Soviet Union, and even Marxist/socialist literary and artistic values and criticism. The best and really fine pieces in those veins are The Literary Consequences of the Crash (with a withering summary of the American pre-crash mentality), An Appeal to Prgressives, and Marxism at the End of the Thirties. The point is not that we agree or disagree with Wilson, but these essays express a conveniently forgotten fact that, in the '30s especially, intelligent, idealistic people (not just dupes or wide-eyed intellectuals) saw very real problems with American capitalism, its values, and its apparent economic collapse with the Great Depression, and looked, possibly wrong-headedly and no doubt ultimately disappointedly, to Marx, Engels, Lenin, the Soviet Union, and an apparently viable communist system for some feasible alternative. If The Shores of Light has something really valuable to offer, I think it is this point of view (however fleeting the beliefs). (And should anyone simply dismiss Wilson as a dupe or an apologist, I would certainly acknowledge that his opinions changed over time, but would also invite them to read his last introduction to To the Finland Station, which is a scathing indictment of Stalinist Russia, an acknowledgement of the flaws in the communist system, and his own naive assumptions.)
As to "Axel's Castle," it contains what is still one of the more cogent explications of "symbolism." It also contains first rate discussions of Yeats, Eliot, Proust, Joyce and others. In certain cases, the critiques are a bit premature as a "final word" on the authors, but there is not a simgle instance in which Wilson's insights are not at the very least an excellent starting place. The essays on Eliot, Proust and Joyce are especially insightful and valuable. Wilson had a great grasp of what Eliot had accomplished, both as a poet and critic, and I've always thought that Wilson had a particular affinity for French literature and the French literary and critical tradition, and a real appreciation for Proust. On the other hand, his discussion of Gertrude Stein, although adequate, is not the be-all and end-all of Stein commentary. I don't disagree with Wilson about Stein, but he was neither the most insightful nor sympathetic critic. By point of comparison, I would cite Thornton Wilder's "Gertrude Stein's Four in America." Wilder of course had the advantage of some 15 years perspective and he was much more sympathetic to Stein, but reading Wilder and Wilson together does suggest the limitations imposed by Wilson's tastes and preferences (as if such preferences do not always play some part in critical commentary).
All in all, this is a terrific volume. My sole reservation is that, for the reader not especially obsessed with the '20s or '30s or symbolism, and just looking to browse and be entertained by Wilson's wit, intelligence and charm, I would look instead to the second LoA volume.