Talk:Edmund Wilson
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I added Wilson's dob, and corrected his dod, each based on Encyclopedia Britanica and other sources. --Jose Ramos 09:32, 30 Dec 2003 (UTC)
The paragraph on Wilson's non-payment of income taxes seems slanted. I've added a few more items to the list of Wilson's works, and slightly regularized them. Mary McCarthy was one of EW's wives. He was married several times. I believe that Wilson inspired the "Library of America" --Rick Lightburn 17 Jan 2006
- I put in what some might consider the "slanted" stuff against Wilson, mainly because I don't find his "anti-Cold War" defense persuasive at all. Wilson had no problems paying taxes during the World War II years. To be blunt, I think Wilson just wanted to keep as much of his money as possible, once he started earning much more after the war. That's understandable but hardly a high and mighty moral stance. The political influence that was used to reduce his penalties is hardly edifying, either. (It's discussed in frank detail in the final paragraph of The Cold War and the Income Tax: A Protest, where Lewis Dabney, a friend of Wilson, describes how the IRS was pressured to lower his fine.) Anyway, a subsequent editor has removed some of my verbiage, and the paragraph may now be more balanced. Casey Abell 20:19, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] His review of Ulysses
Hi, Do you know any link to his review of the Joyce's Ulysses?
Mohammad
[edit] Personal Details
Didn't his friends refer to him as "Bunny"? If so, this should be included in the article.
I believe that "Bunny" was originally used by his mother, and the name stuck.
[edit] Bunny's Burial
After his demise, it was found that his ego wouldn't fit in a standard coffin and it had to be buried separately. Bunny accused V. Nabokov, a native speaker of Russian and an accomplished writer, of making language mistakes in his Eugene Onegin.Lestrade 16:05, 7 April 2006 (UTC)Lestrade
[edit] The Article's Opening
I feel that the opening of the Wilson article should make more clear how prominent, really pre-eminent, Wilson was in his day as a critic. I'll try to revise it to reflect this, but others should feel free to fiddle with the opening further.
Also, I've tried to suggest how the critical urge in Wilson harmed some of his personal relationships.
Andrew Szanton, 5/06
But his work has dated badly, hasn't it?(While Nabokov's star is still in the ascendant.) The insights, the sensibility do not seem so special. The range still depresses.
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- His work has indeed dated badly, but although Nabokov's stuff is now being printed as part of the Library of America, that merely reflects the idiosyncratic judgments of its editorial board, and may not stand the test of time either, IMHO. 66.108.4.183 02:33, 16 September 2006 (UTC) Allen Roth
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- I think 'Most literary experts considered Wilson the preeminent American literary critic of his day, and perhaps of the 20th century.' is dubious. In general I think 'most people think he was the greatest' counts as weasel wording. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find intelligent praise of Wilson by informed sources. Remember that we're not here to praise Wilson, or to bury him either. We're here to register the verifiable fact that he was once a giant and now maybe isn't so much. Not to pass our personal judgments on the quality of his work. Lexo 18:23, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] Book Dimensions
Bunny dictated the size of his books to his publisher. They were of an unusual size, slightly smaller than most other hardbacks. His publisher dutifully complied with his whim.Lestrade 01:48, 3 June 2006 (UTC)Lestrade
