James Agee in Context: New Literary, Visual, Cultural, and Historical Essays

In the last twenty years, a surge of critical evaluation and reevaluation of James Agee's works has emerged, fueled by the discovery and publication of previously unknown primary materials. James Agee in Context, a collection of essays by renowned scholars, explores the diverse range of Agee's fiction, poetry, journalism, and screenwriting, highlighting the connections between his work and other literary influences. The volume concludes with previously unknown poems and a short story by Agee, showcasing the author's enduring influence on the literary world.

Format: Hardback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 19 December 2022
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press

The significance of the numerous new James Agee works that have been discovered and published in the last twenty years cannot be overstated. These previously unknown primary works have sparked a corresponding surge in critical analysis and reevaluation among scholars, with James Agee in Context serving as the latest addition to this body of work. This exceptional collection, curated by esteemed James Agee scholars, presents a diverse range of approaches and contexts for understanding the author's fiction, poetry, journalism, and screenwriting. The essays transport the reader from the streets of Agee's New York to accompany him on journeys from Alabama to Hollywood to Havana. Contributors delve into overlapping and sometimes distinct subjects, themes, and achievements (or shortcomings) in Agee's uncovered works, while also emphasizing the wide-ranging interest that his comprehensive body of work continues to inspire. The insightful scholarship on influence explores the connections between Agee and notable figures such as Wright Morris, Helen Levitt, John Dos Passos, Ernest Hemingway, and Stephen Crane. These juxtapositions serve to illustrate Agee's early influences, his use of journalism to shape fiction as he approached his thirtieth birthday, and his impact on other writers. The volume concludes with three previously unpublished poems and a short story by Agee, further expanding our understanding of this multifaceted author and his artistic endeavors.

Despite the remarkable discoveries made in the past two decades, there remains a significant amount to uncover about this versatile author, his materials, and his circle. However, the recovery and analysis of neglected texts and information gleaned from newspapers and magazines attest to Agee's unwavering dedication to preserving his mind and work, as he himself expressed, "patiently concentrated upon the essential quietudes of the human soul."

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781621907428