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6th out of 15 books
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14 voters
Exile's Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s
The adventures and attitudes shared by the American writers dubbed "The Lost Generation" are brought to life here by one of the group's most notable members. Feeling alienated in the America of the 1920s, Fitzgerald, Crane, Hemingway, Wilder, Dos Passos, Crowley, and many other writers "escaped" to Europe, some forever, some as temporary exiles. As Cowley details in this i...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
December 1st 1994
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1951)
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This is the story of the so-called lost generation of American writers, of their alienation from their American roots, their attempts to replace America's "mechanical values" with moral values by escaping to Europe. Of their struggle to reconcile their need for self-expression with their need to make a living. The crass money values of America drove them overseas, but their need for American money always drew them back, back to an America that was changed, in their perceptions.
This is a narrati...more
This is a narrati...more
A celebration of the brilliant people the essayist knew in Greenwich Village and in France during and after the war. It's personal without being too anecdotal and does a good job of showing the appreciation for form during this period, which is still useful for anyone who really cares about what makes for good writing. However, I was disappointed, but not surprised, by the author's virtual indifference to black writers from the same period who were just as talented and productive as their white...more
An in-depth and fascinating review of modernism in Paris. Written from an outside perspective it adds a certain authenticity to the plethora due to its stark honesty even though it is often looking at other real figures in he scene, however, without the veil of fiction that most other pieces from the period rely on.
A definitive work on the lost generation and their experiences abroad written by a man intimate with the members of this group. Was an invaluable research tool for my thesis on the lost generation and transnationalism in literature.
Very possibly the book that made the most impression on me during university, therefore fantastic. A glimpse into the lives of Fitzgerland, Hemingway, Pound, Eliot, Joyce, and others. On my to-read shelf to revisit.
From the Sacred Cowley, a worthy reference book. What I remember
about Cowley is that his soon-to-be-exwife Peggy was "romancing"
Hart Crane in Mexico and was w him on the boat when Hart jumped
ohboard. Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?
about Cowley is that his soon-to-be-exwife Peggy was "romancing"
Hart Crane in Mexico and was w him on the boat when Hart jumped
ohboard. Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?
I just came across this title scribbled in one of my notebooks. I have no idea what led me to write it down. But, dagnammit, if it's in the notebook, then it's important.
I was surprised at the amount of text allotted for Cowley's broad generational language, rather than personal stories like Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast." Still worth reading.
Jan 20, 2008
Deborah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Literary junkies, history buffs, and everyone else!
Recommended to Deborah by:
UC Berkeley english dept :)
This text was like a secret glimpse inside the lives of 1920s authors. You get to learn about the bar fights, affairs, and other drunken acts that inspired the great books of this century. I found it rather surprising that one man was so well-connected to this scene, as Malcolm Cowley befriended almost every major author of the time (Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Dos Passos, and my favorite e.e. cummings). By reading this, you get to really understand why WW1, the economy, and social change created the...more
Wonderful stories that greatly humanizes a great many writers and personalities from the 1920s.
Read this in school...think it was great, but not sure.
The "non-fiction" corollary to A MOVABLE FEAST. Oddly relevent.
I loved this book. Little snippets about Eugene O'Neil interacting with mobsters in the speakeasies of Manhattan, and remarkable descriptions of Hemingway, Proust, Joyce, not to mention a wonderful slew of anecdotes from Cowley's own life, and interesting intellectual history, such as the history of bohemianism, the expat experience, and what happened to the lost generation. If you like any of the authors mentioned in here, you should read this book.
Feb 12, 2013
Robert Ripson
added it
An interesting insight to the mindset of writers coming of age in the 1920s and the forces that shaped their outlook.
I actually loved this book more than I thought I would.
An informative retelling of the Lost Generation. Well worth reading. Of particular interest to those interested in: Hart Crane, Harry Crosby, the Dada movement, or the boom of post WWI literary reviews devoted to modernism and its offshoots.
Cowley does a pretty good attempt at capturing the literary and intellectual maelstrom which was the 20s. This is the place I first heard of Harold Stearns. Cowley also tries to place the senselessness of Harry Crosby's suicide into context.
I read this book for a class in college and really enjoyed it. I am feeling a bit silly though, because I just realized I still have my college copy, but I have been reading the library's copy! Still good though. :)
1910's - 1930's
biography of the lost generation
what it is to write. how it can be done and the function of art to individuals and communities.
a writer's book.
biography of the lost generation
what it is to write. how it can be done and the function of art to individuals and communities.
a writer's book.
I loved this book. It has really influenced my ideas on art and its creation. Also, it's a timeless understanding of the artist living amongst capitalism.
I can never get enough of Lost Generation writing. I especially enjoyed the extended portrait of Harry Crosby.
Excellent account of the "lost generation" told by someone who knew all the major players.
An interesting and witty look back on the Lost Generation of writers.
Lost Generation. A masterpiece that coined the phrase.
May 20, 2013
Miam
is currently reading it
May 15, 2013
Tina Smith-Anderson
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Michele
added it
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Malcolm Cowley was an American novelist, poet, literary critic, and journalist. Cowley is also recognized as one of the major literary historians of the twentieth century, and his Exile's Return, is one of the most definitive and widely read chronicles of the 1920s.
Cowley was one of the dozens of creative literary and artistic figures who migrated during the 1920s to Paris and congregated in Montp...more
More about Malcolm Cowley...
Cowley was one of the dozens of creative literary and artistic figures who migrated during the 1920s to Paris and congregated in Montp...more
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“Everywhere was the atmosphere of a long debauch that had to end; the orchestras played too fast, the stakes were too high at the gambling tables, the players were so empty, so tired, secretly hoping to vanish together into sleep and ... maybe wake on a very distant morning and hear nothing, whatever, no shouting or crooning, find all things changed.”
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2 people liked it
“The late 1920s were an age of islands, real and metaphorical. They were an age when Americans by thousands and tens of thousands were scheming to take the next boat for the South Seas or the West Indies, or better still for Paris, from which they could scatter to Majorca, Corsica, Capri or the isles of Greece. Paris itself was a modern city that seemed islanded in the past, and there were island countries, like Mexico, where Americans could feel that they had escaped from everything that oppressed them in a business civilization. Or without leaving home they could build themselves private islands of art or philosophy; or else - and this was a frequent solution - they could create social islands in the shadow of the skyscrapers, groups of close friends among whom they could live as unconstrainedly as in a Polynesian valley, live without moral scruples or modern conveniences, live in the pure moment, live gaily on gin and love and two lamb chops broiled over a coal fire in the grate. That was part of the Greenwich Village idea, and soon it was being copied in Boston, San Francisco, everywhere.”
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2 people liked it
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Dec 29, 2012 12:18pm