Stephen Crane by Bettina L. Knapp (review)

76 Western American Literature except as—what it is—a filler), The Men in My Life offers several perceptual slants on its main subject: i.e., how it was to be James Houston growing up as an American WASP, learning gradually he is “not a joiner,” and wishing he had his male progenitors—especially those who lit out for the territory—to talk with, maybe even walk with, in a time when a man’schoices were simpler, more easily made, with fewer considerations than those facing him in 1987. DAVID A. CARPENTER Eastern Illinois University Stephen Crane. By Bettina L. Knapp. (New York: The Ungar Publishing Company, 1987. 198 pages, $15.95.) This volume, like others in the publisher’s Literature and Life series fea­ turing American writers, is intended as a “critical-biographical introduction” to the author’s “life, work, and place within a literary tradition.” The book’s fast-moving, easily-read, contemporary English should appeal especially to young readers whose study or interest is in American literature. Knapp, an author and a teacher, has distilled the large volume of mater­ ial by and about Crane and, throughout the book, relates Crane’s work to his life and to his age and ours, interweaving literary and psychological analyses with critical comments. The resulting integration is presented so as to main­ tain reader interest, particularly important if the book is to appeal to young people. Knapp provides eleven compact chapters: one for Crane’s life, one for each of his six novels, one for his two books of poems, and three under the heading of tales, which include the short stories engendered by his five-month trip to Nebraska, the Southwest, and Mexico in the early part of 1895. The University of Virginia edition of Crane’s works is Knapp’s primary source, and she includes a short bibliography of secondary sources which should be satisfactory for the beginner. The book is traditional in that most space is given to Crane’s novels, whereas there is critical support for concluding that he, like Hemingway, was probably at his best as a writer of short stories. Consequently, placing them at the end of the book may give the impression that they are less important than both his novels and his poetry. Also, while Knapp does refer to Crane’s dra­ matic sketch, The Ghost, she does not deal with Crane’s three dramas. They may not be so important as his other work, but some consideration of them in an introductory book would help show the extent of Crane’sprobing talent. DONALD E. GRIBBLE Hibbing, Minnesota ...