William Dean Howells: Novels 1875-1886 (LOA #8): A Foregone Conclusion / Indian Summer / A Modern Instance / The Rise of Silas Lapham Hardcover – Big Book, 1 November 1982

A brilliant descriptive writer. Unfortunately, unlikable characters whom one can care less about. Hence, boring.

Too bad that Howells is one of the forgotten American novelists of the 19th century. If you exclude HUCKLEBERRY FINN, he's a much better writer of novels than Twain. A CONNECTICUT YANKEE and THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER are third-rate stuff, whereas SILAS LAPHAM, A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES, and A MODERN INSTANCE are all good reads.Lionel Trilling once opined that when Henry James reputation was on the rise in the 1930s-40s and when Twain was receiving a lot of attention, Henry Steele Commanger (sp?) edited an edition of four of Howells novels that had no effect on his reputation.To be enshrined in the Library of America is all well and good, but there are also volumes in this series by Jack London and Upton Sinclair, two writers who are happily forgotten by most readers. Historical status, not literary merit, is the criterion for the Library.I'd suggest that if you like Hawthorne, Melville, Poe, Henry James, and Twain, you should try Howells. You won't think him a great discovery or the equal of any of the aforementioned (Twain excepted), but you might be pleasantly surprised.