Alfred Kazin: A Biography

463 Pages·2008·1.19 MB·English

by  Professor Richard M. Cook

Alfred Kazin
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Alfred Kazin
A Biography
richard m. cook
Yale University Press New Haven & London
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inclusion in the eBook.
Copyright ∫ 2007 by Richard Cook.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by James J. Johnson and set in New Caledonia Roman by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cook, Richard M., 1941–
Alfred Kazin : a biography / Richard M. Cook.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
isbn 978-0-300-11505-5 (alk. paper)
1. Kazin, Alfred, 1915–1998. 2. American literature—History and criticism—Theory, etc.
3. Criticism—United States—History—20th century. 4. Criticism—United States—History—20th
century. 5. United States—Intellectual life—20th century. 6. Critics—United States—Biography.
I. Title.
ps29.k38a3 2007
809—dc22
[b]
2007019874
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Sylvia, Rachel, and Rebecca
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Contents
Illustrations follow page 182
Acknowledgments, ix
chapter
1. Brownsville, 1
chapter
2. The Thirties: Starting Out, 21
chapter
3. The Thirties: On Native Grounds, 39
chapter
4. The Break (1942–1945), 72
chapter
5. After the Apocalypse (1945–1950), 107
chapter
6. A Walker in the City, 146
chapter
7. Living in the Fifties (1951–1958), 168
chapter
8. The Writer in the World: Part 1 (1958–1963), 209
chapter
9. The Writer in the World: Part 2 (1963–1970), 251
chapter
10. New York Jew (1970–1978), 294
chapter
11. A New Life (1978–1984), 325
chapter
12. Politics, 351
chapter
13. ‘‘The End of Things’’ (1984–1998), 376
Notes, 413
Index, 441
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Acknowledgments
I am indebted to many people for help with this book, including, especially,
the late Alfred Kazin. He granted me many interviews, helped me obtain
copies of his journals, and wrote lengthy letters answering my questions.
Since his death in 1998, his widow, Judith Dunford, has been helpful in
every imaginable way. Without her cooperation, support, and encourage-
ment, this book would could not have been written. Michael and Cathrael
Kazin were both forthcoming and generous with their time, answering my
questions about their father and providing me with valuable correspon-
dence. I am grateful to a number of people for granting me interviews and
making material available to me: Ann Birstein, Daniel and Pearl Bell,
Daniel Aaron, Saul Bellow, Mary Beth McMahon, Morris Dickstein, Jack-
son Bryer, Irving Kristol, Nathan Glazer, Norman Podhoretz, Daniel Born,
Joseph Epstein, Peter Davison, Robert Giroux, Gerald Sorin, Anne Fadi-
man, Jonathan Rosen, and Louis Menand.
I thank the following for granting me permission to quote from letters to
Alfred Kazin: Elizabeth Hardwick, Philip Roth, Herbert Mitgang, Robert
Cowley, Marcia Adams, Robert Wojtowicz, Katrin Geller, Peter Stimson
Brooks, Betty T. Rahv, Mary Powlesland Commager, and Neil Kosodoy.
I am particularly grateful to Morris Dickstein for reading some of the
chapters and offering sound advice. My colleague Joseph Carroll not only
read the chapters as they were being written, he reread them and provided
critical and moral support when I most needed it.