Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature

by Stanley Kunitz

Contains biographical sketches of 1,850 authors with brief descriptions of their works

Genres: Reference

1123 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Stanley Jasspon Kunitz was an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, first in 1974 and then again in 2000.

Reviews

[Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twentieth Century Authors is not a story, it has no plot or designed story line to follow. The book is a biographical dictionary of modern authors and literature. However, if you read this book at a certain depth and with a very large amount of respect, two large underlying trends come to the forefront and become obvious. First, the way of writing changes very quickly. Authors that were born in the early 1800s, late 1700s, write with a condescending tone. Authors born in the late 1800s to early 1900s write with a very different tone, especially those writing non-fiction. It's more of a recounting and getting people to understanding than it is about how one could never understand Fantasy writers of the early 1800s focus on gadgets like men going into the heavens, or weapons capable of killing 10 men instantly. Later authors focused more on world war 2. This book is literally an encyclopedia.

[Amber Young]

Kunitz, S., & Colby, V. (1955). Twentieth century authors; first supplement. A biographical dictionary of modern literature. New York: Wilson.

Citation By: Amber Young Collins

Call Number: REF 809.04

Type: Bibliography

Content/Scope: This bibliography contains over 600 new entries mostly of authors who have become popular since 1942.

Arrangement/Presentation: The arrangement is alphabetical by author’s last name.

Accuracy/Authority/Bias: The accuracy could be better due to the age of the book. Honestly, the book should be weeded from the library due to newer and more accurate ones becoming available.