quote:
Bloom in his introduction does not claim to be ranking the greatest American authors, but twelve authors which he describes as representing a certain theme which he calls the "American Sublime" , or American humanism and where he compares two authors to each other in each chapter. He has subjectively chose them as much for their influence as opposed to literary greatness.

In other words, the ranking is one that is purely based on his own likes and dislikes, wholly biased, and one that in no way should be used to discuss who the greatest American writers were/are.

Which is basically what I figured when I read the OP and what I wrote in my first post. The list and criteria are entirely subjective and, therefore, only bare relevancy insofar as Bloom is considered a great literary critic, whatever that means.

And this means that I give no fricks about this list and no one else should either.

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Posted by OleWar

Troy H. Middleton Library

Member since Mar 2008

5828 posts

Posted on 5/25/15 at 1:35 pm to LoveThatMoney

I don't think it has to do with likes or dislikes but an understanding of a uniquely American literary movement that starts with Emerson and branches off into some different directions. I am not going to critique the book yet because I have not read it, but it seems interesting.

quote:
And this means that I give no fricks about this list and no one else should either.

Whether you like or agree with the list is perhaps irrelevant (there are a few authors on the list I find a bit odious). One may give a frick as these authors have influenced American history,culture, mores, and politics to such a degree that it is worth some reflection.

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