more photos (1)

Paul's Fans (11)

Paul Fussell

Author profile

born

March 22, 1922 in Pasadena, CA, The United States

died

May 23, 2012

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, History, Biographies & Memoirs

About this author

edit data

Paul Fussell was an American cultural and literary historian, author and university professor. His writings covered a variety of topics, from scholarly works on eighteenth-century English literature to commentary on America’s class system. He was an U.S. Army Infantry officer in the European theater during World War II (45th Infantry Division) and was awarded both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He is best known for his writings about World War I and II.

He began his teaching career at Connecticut College (1951–55) before moving to Rutgers University in 1955 and finally the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. He also taught at the University of Heidelberg (1957–58) and King’s College London (1990–92). As a teacher, he traveled widely w...more

combine editions
Books by Paul Fussell

Average rating: 3.99 · 2,739 ratings · 388 reviews · 24 distinct works

	The Great War and Modern Memory 4.24 avg rating — 952 ratings — published 1975 — 13 editions	My rating:
	Class: A Guide Through the American Status System 3.92 avg rating — 768 ratings — published 1983 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Poetic Meter and Poetic Form 3.85 avg rating — 214 ratings — published 1965 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War 4.09 avg rating — 193 ratings — published 1989 — 5 editions	My rating:
	The Boys' Crusade: The American Infantry in Northwestern Europe, 1944-45 3.89 avg rating — 128 ratings — published 2003 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Bad, or the Dumbing of America 3.47 avg rating — 129 ratings — 4 editions	My rating:
	Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic 3.71 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 1996 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Thank God for the Atom Bomb & Other Essays 3.80 avg rating — 65 ratings — published 1988 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Abroad: British Literary Traveling Between the Wars 4.02 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 1979 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Uniforms: Why We Are What We Wear 3.19 avg rating — 72 ratings — published 2002 — 2 editions	My rating:

More books by Paul Fussell…

Quotes by Paul Fussell

“i find nothing more depressing than optimism.”
― Paul Fussell

tags: depression , humor , optimism , oxymoron

29 people liked it

“Americans are the only people in the world known to me whose status anxiety prompts them to advertise their college and university affiliations in the rear window of their automobiles.”
― Paul Fussell, Class: A Guide Through the American Status System

9 people liked it

“Every war is ironic because every war is worse than expected. Every war constitutes an irony of situation because its means are so melodramatically disproportionate to its presumed ends.”
― Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory

tags: truth

7 people liked it

See all Paul Fussell's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The History Book ...: AUTHOR ALPHABET	1102	341	May 24, 2012 03:46am
The Next Best Boo...: Author Alphabet	3431	2600	May 31, 2012 04:45pm
The History Book ...: * FIRST WORLD WAR - GENERAL	495	431	Jun 01, 2012 11:42am

More…