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American Literature 76.1 (2004) 203-215



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Brief Mention

Editions

The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition . By Upton Sinclair. Tucson, Ariz.: See Sharp Press. 2003. xxvii, 335 pp. Paper, $12.00.

This edition of The Jungle, serialized in 1905 in the socialist journal One-Hoss Philosophy, restores Sinclair's original version, which includes five additional chapters, biting political commentary, and vivid descriptions of the underworld of Packingtown that publishers of the expurgated edition refused to include.

Theodore Dreiser's Uncollected Magazine Articles, 1897–1902 . Ed. Yoshinobu Hakutani. Newark: Univ. of Delaware Press; Cranbury, N.J.: Associated Univ. Presses. 2003. 324 pp. $52.50.

In the years preceding the publication of Sister Carrie, Dreiser contributed over 125 articles to some of the nation's most popular magazines. With his diverse interests, Dreiser became a sharp critic and thorough historian of American culture at the dawn of the twentieth century. Hakutani has collected thirty-four of Dreiser's pieces and divided them into five sections. The first deals with success stories of self-made Americans; the second looks at science, technology, and industry; and the final three cover Dreiser's thoughts on various landscapes, geographic and cultural.

A Much Misunderstood Man: Selected Letters of Ambrose Bierce . Ed. S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz. Columbus: Ohio State Univ. Press. 2003. xxvi, 258 pp. Cloth, $74.95; CD, $9.95.

This sampling of letters is the first published collection of Bierce's correspondence since 1922. Although Bierce resisted autobiography, and although his writings are hardly an open window into his emotional life, the editors of this volume attempt to bring together correspondence that presents a softer, more "human" side of Bierce. These carefully selected and thoroughly annotated [End Page 203] letters portray, for example, his compassion as a father and literary mentor, his subtle flirtations with women, and his fight against hypocrisy and injustice.

The Modern World of Neith Boyce: Autobiography and Diaries . Ed. Carol DeBoer-Langworthy. Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press. 2003. xvi, 360 pp. $34.95.

Traditionally remembered as the wife of journalist Hutchins Hapgood and the daughter of Henry Harrison Boyce (cofounder of the Los Angeles Times), Boyce herself produced poetry, fiction, and plays as a participant in early modernism. Included in this volume of personal reflections are journal fragments and a partial autobiography of Boyce's life that reveal her own modernist style, which crosses boundaries of genre, form, identity, and temporality.

The Harlem Group of Negro Writers . By Melvin B. Tolson. Ed. Edward J. Mullen. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood. 2001. xii, 182 pp. $60.95.

Tolson's master's thesis (1940), here published in its entirety for the first time, is the first academic study of the Harlem Renaissance by an African American scholar. As a poet and historian at the time, Tolson was able to draw on his familiarity with the major figures of the movement, including Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, W. E. B. DuBois, George Schuyler, Eric Walrond, and Jessie Fauset. Also included are bibliographies of works on Tolson and on the Harlem Renaissance.

The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Volume 11: Works for Children and Other Young Adults: Poetry, Fiction, and Other Writing . Ed. Dianne Johnson. Columbia: Univ. of Missouri Press. 2003. xvi, 393 pp. $44.95.

This collection displays Hughes's versatility and artistic commitment to children's literature as a vehicle for revising biased histories and instilling racial pride in young people. The pieces in this volume span Hughes's 1932 submissions to The Brownies' Book (a children's magazine started by W. E. B. DuBois and Jessie Fauset) to several stories and poems published posthumously after 1967. Also included is Hughes's series of "First Books," in which children are introduced to the historical contributions of Africans to the world community.

The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Volume 16: The Translations: Federico García Lorca, Nicolás Guillén, and Jacques Roumain . Ed. Dellita Martin-Ogunsola. Columbia: Univ. of Missouri Press. 2003. xvi, 267 pp. $29.95.

Hughes regarded literary translation as a means of building bridges between cultures and highlighting commonalities in the political and personal struggles faced by all oppressed...

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