American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

The H. P. Lovecraft letters I look at in this episode cover much of the second half of 1927. There is not much in the way of philosophy, but professionally it is an important period with the submission of "The Call of Cthulhu".

The episode in which I try to make some final sense of James Agee's LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN. I am pretty sure I am only scratching the surface.

Let's look at some more of H. P. Lovecraft's letters. In this episode I explore the ones he wrote in 1927. There are a few good and important letters here such as one to Donald Wanderi on metaphysics and one to Bernard Dwyer on culture, migration and modernism.

Part three of my review of LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN by James Agee. In this part of the book, Agee continues his report on the material conditions of life for the three sharecropping families. It will get weird again at the end.

The winter of 1926-27 Lovecraft wrote several interesting letters on his aesthetic and literary tastes and he worked on THE DREAMQUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH. Some ennui at this time, it seems to me.

In part 2 of LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN by James Agee we get a look at the material conditions of life for our three sharecropper families, with special focus on their homes.

Back in Providence, Lovecraft felt more at peace, but his New York experience shaped how he even saw Providence as he began to explore it again. He saw pockets of his town he never noticed before. Lots of fun letters in this section showing these reflections on NY.

In this episode I look at more of H. P. Lovecraft's letters. These cover his final months in New York and his return to Providence. But this New York experience will stay in Lovecraft's mind for many years.

Part one of my review of the frustrating, fascinating, and beautiful work LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN. I still do not know fully what to think of this one. It explores the lives of sharecroppers in the South during the Great Depression, but goes off the rails.

If you are interested here are some thoughts on a few pieces of James Agee's assorted journalism for FORTUNE and TIME, including some book reviews. The most interesting may be his look at cock fighting and the Tennessee Valley Authority.