Seven Masters of Supernatural Fiction

(Hardback)

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Description

An unusual grouping of mainly British writers, this study includes some, like Henry James, who are indisputably leaders of the "canon" regardless of genre, and others, like Algernon Blackwood, who wrote almost exclusively in the supernatural; all, however, were clearly masters of this genre. The seven chapters on the individual writers each examine plot, character, mood and setting in a traditional sense, sparked by personal observations and comparisons. Each study is preceded by a biographical sketch and documented by comprehensive bibliographies and notes. In the case of the less studied writers, like M.R. James and Arthur Machen, these chapters may be the fullest accounts ever published.

Reviews

It is a gentleman's book, graceful and very clear about literary values and guests that we have inherited from the last century and that through amateur work and through some serious scholarship still survive.-Extrapolation
"It is a gentleman's book, graceful and very clear about literary values and guests that we have inherited from the last century and that through amateur work and through some serious scholarship still survive."-Extrapolation

Author Bio

EDWARD WAGENKNECHT is Professor of English Emeritus, Boston University. He has published more than 70 books and edited collections between 1927 and 1990, including several on the supernatural and is currently working on a study of Willa Cather.