Adventures with a Texas Humanist by James Ward Lee (review)

B o o k R e v i e w s 3 6 3 erature, psych ology, an d ph ilosoph y. Surely, th ese referen ces w ill aid Stein beck sch olars w h o w an t to un derstan d h ow th e m yriad o f Rick etts’s in terests im pacted th e w riter an d w ere reflected in h is prose. T h e letters are con vin cin g pr oof th at, as a scien tist, an am ateu r ph ilosoph er, an d a con su m m ate con sum er o f th e arts, h e w as an in dividual w h ose in fluen ce on oth ers is ju st begin n in g to be kn ow n an d w h ose life is deservin g of far m ore atten tion by sch olars. Readers can be th an kful th at Rodger h as un dertaken th is task an d th at sh e in ten ds to pu blish Rick etts’s m ajor essays as w ell. If th is volum e h as an y flaws, it is th e brevity o f Rod ger’s critical com m en tary (som etim es assum in g too m u ch abou t h er readers’backgroun d kn ow ledge). Yet, an oth er disappoin tm en t, th ough m in or, is th e fact th at th e in dex is m issin g such sign ifican t n am es as Jo h n Elof Bood in w h ile in cludin g such en tries as sh ark liver oil an d plan kton . O n th e w h ole, h ow ever, th is is a volu m e w ell w orth th e reader’s tim e. A d v e n t u r e s w it h a T e x as H u m a n ist . By Jam es W ard Lee. F o r t W o r t h : T e x a s C h r ist ia n U n iv e r sit y P r e ss, 2 0 0 4 . 2 8 4 p age s, $ 2 4 - 9 5 . R e v ie w e d b y R o b e r t M u r r a y D a v is, P r o fe sso r E m e r it u s U n iv e r sit y o f O k la h o m a , N o r m a n In “T h e Fu n ction o f Criticism an d th e Criticism of Region al Literature,” an essay from A dv en tu res w ith a T ex as H u m an ist, Jam es W ard Lee asserts th at th e critic’s job is “to m ake literature accessible to th e com m on reader an d n ot to ‘valorize’ criticism itself” (152). Readers an d critics o f region al literature, h e argues, ten d n ot to be “th eoretician s an d ph ilosoph ers an d ideological terror­ ists” (153). T h e decon stru ction ists, w h o em barked on a quest th at began w ith th e Rom an tics, are “th e en d result o f m an k in d’s redefin ition o f G o d ” (158). Lee classifies h im self n ot as a ph ilosoph er but as a bookw orm . T h e spirit o f th is piece, w h ich con cludes “Texas Literature,” th e first an d lon gest section o f th e book, pervades th e seven essays w h ich precede it. Lee con trasts th e age o f J. Fran k D obie— rom an tic, lon gh orn -orien ted, an d fairly to largely ign oran t abou t...