Liberalism in America; Its Origin, Its Temporary Collapse, Its Future

by Harold Edmund Stearns

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

Harold Edmund Stearns was known as a prolific critic, journalist, editor and essayist during the 1920's and 1930's. He was a member of the American expatriate group in Paris along with other notable exiles such as Ernest Hemingway, Elliot Paul, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Glenway Wescott, John Dos Passos and Robert Coates. It was also Stearns who encouraged New York publisher Horace Liveright to publish Hemingway's In Our Time. For many chroniclers of the era, Stearns was the quintessential expatriate - a symbol of the 'exile' period in American literature.

However, Stearns was also referred to by his intimates as a "picturesque ruin" for what he had left behind him in America was "the broken promise of a brilliant career—essays in The New Republic, editorship of The Dial, and his famous iconoclastic symposium 'Civilization in the United States'."
Eventually, Stearns fell victim to alcohol and gambling whilst attempting to forge a career in Paris. His perpetual lack of funds and habit of borrowing money from friends made him quite infamous; so much so, that Ernest Hemingway used him as a model for the indigent Harvey Stone in his novel The Sun Also Rises.

In 1932 he returned to New York, his passage paid for by charity and friends. He went on to publish two reappraisals of the United States, Rediscovering America (1934) and America, a Reappraisal (1937), a complete volte-face from his earlier symposium.