Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: American Realism Pt. 1: The First Generation: William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Henry James 1: The Sin of Art: William Dean Howells The Problem of Howellsian Realism The Road to Realism A Portrait of the Artist as a "Real" Man The Problem of American Realism 2: Humor, Sentiment, Realism: Mark Twain Mark Twain as Critic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 3: Artist Fables: Henry James's Realist Phase A Different Road/A Different Realism Realism and Reform Naturalism, Impressionism, Revolution Pt. 2: The Problem of Naturalism: Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser 4: The Revolt against Style: Frank Norris The Road to Naturalism Naturalism and Style 5: Irony, Parody, and "Transcendental Realism": Stephen Crane The Language of the Street Words of War 6: Fine Styles of Sympathy; Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie Dreiser and American Naturalism Condescension and Identification Pt. 3: A "Woman's Place" in American Realism: Sarah Orne Jewett 7: Local Color and Realism: Sarah Orne Jewett Jewett's Place in American Realism Maine Person and Boston Professional Realism, Feminism, and the World of Dunnet Landing Notes Index

About the Author

Michael Davitt Bell was, at the time of his death in 1997, the J. Leland Miller Professor of American History, Literature, and Eloquence at Williams College. His books include The Problem of American Realism: Studies in the Cultural History of a Literary Idea and The Development of American Romance, both published by the University of Chicago Press, as well as Hawthorne and the Historical Romance of New England.