The Trial of Curiosity: Henry James, William James, and the Challenge of Modernity

by Ross Posnock

In this important revisionist study, Posnock integrates literary and psychological criticism with social and cultural theory to make a major advance in our understanding of the life and thought of two great American figures, Henry and William James. Challenging canonical images of both brothers, Posnock is the first to place them in a rich web of cultural and intellectual affiliations comprised of a host of American and European theorists of modernity. A startlingly new Henry James emerges from a cross-disciplinary dialogue, which features Veblen, Santayana, Bourne, and Dewey, as well as Weber, Simmel, Benjamin, and Adorno.

Genres: Criticism

382 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 1991

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book so long ago that my only recollection is that I would want to read it again. It's among the 15 or 20 books on the James family and its member that I have kept.