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The Notebooks and Diaries of Edmund Wilson
THE THIRTIES: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period.
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785 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1980
About the author
Edmund Wilson
170 books162 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. See also physicist Edmund Wilson.
Edmund Wilson Jr. was a towering figure in 20th-century American literary criticism, known for his expansive intellect, stylistic clarity, and commitment to serious literary and political engagement. Over a prolific career, Wilson wrote for Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books, shaping the critical conversation on literature, politics, and culture. His major critical works—such as Axel's Castle and Patriotic Gore—combined literary analysis with historical insight, and he ventured boldly into subjects typically reserved for academic specialists, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Native American cultures, and the American Civil War.
Wilson was also the author of fiction, memoirs, and plays, though his influence rested most strongly on his literary essays and political writing. He was instrumental in promoting the reputations of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, and many others. Despite his friendships with several of these authors, his criticism could be unflinching, even scathing—as seen in his public dismissal of H. P. Lovecraft and J. R. R. Tolkien. His combative literary style often drew attention, and his exacting standards for writing, along with his distaste for popular or commercial literature, placed him in a tradition of high-minded literary seriousness.
Beyond the realm of letters, Wilson was politically active, aligning himself at times with socialist ideals and vocally opposing Cold War policies and the Vietnam War. His principled refusal to pay income tax in protest of U.S. militarization led to a legal battle and a widely read protest book.
Wilson was married four times and had several significant personal and intellectual relationships, including with Fitzgerald and Nabokov. He also advocated for the preservation and celebration of American literary heritage, a vision realized in the creation of the Library of America after his death. For his contributions to American letters, Wilson received multiple honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His legacy endures through his extensive body of work, which remains a touchstone for literary scholars and general readers alike.
Edmund Wilson Jr. was a towering figure in 20th-century American literary criticism, known for his expansive intellect, stylistic clarity, and commitment to serious literary and political engagement. Over a prolific career, Wilson wrote for Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books, shaping the critical conversation on literature, politics, and culture. His major critical works—such as Axel's Castle and Patriotic Gore—combined literary analysis with historical insight, and he ventured boldly into subjects typically reserved for academic specialists, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Native American cultures, and the American Civil War.
Wilson was also the author of fiction, memoirs, and plays, though his influence rested most strongly on his literary essays and political writing. He was instrumental in promoting the reputations of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, and many others. Despite his friendships with several of these authors, his criticism could be unflinching, even scathing—as seen in his public dismissal of H. P. Lovecraft and J. R. R. Tolkien. His combative literary style often drew attention, and his exacting standards for writing, along with his distaste for popular or commercial literature, placed him in a tradition of high-minded literary seriousness.
Beyond the realm of letters, Wilson was politically active, aligning himself at times with socialist ideals and vocally opposing Cold War policies and the Vietnam War. His principled refusal to pay income tax in protest of U.S. militarization led to a legal battle and a widely read protest book.
Wilson was married four times and had several significant personal and intellectual relationships, including with Fitzgerald and Nabokov. He also advocated for the preservation and celebration of American literary heritage, a vision realized in the creation of the Library of America after his death. For his contributions to American letters, Wilson received multiple honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His legacy endures through his extensive body of work, which remains a touchstone for literary scholars and general readers alike.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 13, 2025
The Forties, Fifties and Sixties will have to wait. I've had my fill of these diaries for a while. This one was also edited by Leon Edel (at Wilson's request before he died, although Wilson himself wrote up this one to a fair extent).
Better than The Twenties; a more mature man in some ways. This one has two standout sections, one where he writes about the time following the accidental death of his wife Margaret Canby, who died in a fall on her way home from a party. He was profoundly affected by this, and his writing is raw and immediate. The other is the section on his visit on a generous Guggenheim grant to the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s, which is just historically extraordinary. To be there at that time, in that Regime, among many other international visitors, with what seems like a surprising amount of freedom and access to Soviet intellectuals, some of whom didn't make it out of the Stalin years intact.
Better than The Twenties; a more mature man in some ways. This one has two standout sections, one where he writes about the time following the accidental death of his wife Margaret Canby, who died in a fall on her way home from a party. He was profoundly affected by this, and his writing is raw and immediate. The other is the section on his visit on a generous Guggenheim grant to the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s, which is just historically extraordinary. To be there at that time, in that Regime, among many other international visitors, with what seems like a surprising amount of freedom and access to Soviet intellectuals, some of whom didn't make it out of the Stalin years intact.
April 29, 2025
Notes, edited late in his life, from the 1930s when he himself was in his thirties. Despite being rather disjointed, they give a good flavor of life at that time in America, at least from the perspective of a literary man. Some sketches serve as notes for later projects. He had a lot of sex, which he describes in quite clinical detail; I’m mystified why an elderly man would want to put that out there.
May 28, 2020
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
November 29, 2021
If you are interested in one person's take on Edmund Wilson, you will find mine in reflections posted on his other diaries, Upstate et. al.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews