Jay Parini Summary

In the following review, Coover offers a positive evaluation of The Last Station. The 20th century has produced so many monsters and so few even-might-be saints that the temptation is to cling on to t... Read more

In the following review, Binding offers a favorable assessment of John Steinbeck. Perhaps we all met Steinbeck too young; there can be few readers, particularly in his own America, who have missed hav... Read more

In the following review, Corber offers a positive evaluation of Gore Vidal. Gore Vidal is arguably one of the most important writers of his generation. Unusually prolific, he has published over twenty... Read more

In the following review, Altieri offers an unfavorable assessment of The Columbia History of American Poetry, citing omissions and empty homages. The first two-thirds of this collection of essays [The... Read more

In the following review, Jarman provides an extended analysis of The Columbia History of American Poetry, noting both the volume's flaws and strengths. In the mid-1600s, as the Massachusetts co... Read more

In the following review, D'Evelyn offers positive assessment of The Last Station. Once involved in this famously unhappy family, it’s impossible not to take sides. Jay Parini’s wi... Read more

In the following review, Piller offers a positive evaluation of The Columbia History of American Poetry, though notes shortcomings in the volume's limited treatment of contemporary poetry. In T... Read more

In the following extended review of The Columbia History of American Poetry, Spiegelman weighs the volume's weaknesses against its strengths and concludes that it contains disparate perspective... Read more

In the following review, Hearle offers a negative assessment of John Steinbeck. The British edition of this book [John Steinbeck] contained so many errors that this American edition was delayed almost... Read more

In the following review, Watt offers a positive assessment of John Steinbeck, which he regards as a homage to its subject rather than a work of scholarship. Steinbeck didn’t much—like St... Read more

In the following review, Moran offers a positive assessment of Gore Vidal, though notes a lack of focus in the volume. This collection [Gore Vidal: Writer Against the Grain], published in hardback in ... Read more

In the following review, Mehlman offers an unfavorable assessment of Benjamin's Crossing. Walter Benjamin, the subject of Jay Parini’s new novel [Benjamin's Crossing], is as close... Read more

In the following review, Mauro offers a tempered assessment of Some Necessary Angels. This collection of essays [Some Necessary Angels] is an uneven array of homages, nostalgic meditations, and reflec... Read more

In the following review, the critic offers a brief positive assessment of The Last Station. Widely reviewed and well-received (Gore Vidal calls it “easily one of the best historical novels writ... Read more

In the following excerpted review essay, Wilhelmus offers a positive assessment of The Last Station. History, mother of truth; the idea is astounding. Menard, a contemporary of William James, does not... Read more

In the following review of Bay of Arrows, Rubin describes Parini's novel as “unobjectionable” but “less profound than it pretends to be.” Apart from a small, but per... Read more