John Irving

Bloom's Modern Critical Views

by Harold Bloom (Editor)

Explores the author's literary works through critical essays that explore Irving's popularity, narrative perspective, and post-modernism from a variety of viewpoints.

154 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.

Reviews

[Jeremiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series of Bloom's curated essays on various American authors. There is always a wide variety of criticism, both negative and positive (usually skewed towards Bloom's own perspective, which is fine). John Irving is pretty much opened up and excavated with deftness and wit. I loved almost every essay in this particular volume.