Alfred Kazin (June 5, 1915 – June 5, 1998) was an American writer and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He wrote often about the

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

experience in early twentieth century America.

Early life

Like many other

New York Intellectuals The New York Intellectuals were a group of American writers and literary critics based in New York City in the mid-20th century. They advocated left-wing politics but were also firmly anti-Stalinist. The group is known for having sought to integra ...

, Alfred Kazin was the son of Jewish immigrants, born in the Brownsville section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and a graduate of the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. However, his politics were more moderate than most of the New York Intellectuals, many of whom were

socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

Career

Kazin was deeply affected by his peers' subsequent disillusion with socialism and

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

. Adam Kirsch writes in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' that "having invested his romantic self-image in liberalism, Kazin perceived abandonment of liberalism by his peers as an attack on his identity". He wrote out of a great passion—or great disgust—for what he was reading and embedded his opinions in a deep knowledge of history, both

literary history The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

and politics and culture. In 1996 he was awarded the first Truman Capote Lifetime Achievement Award in Literary Criticism, which carries a cash reward of $100,000. As of 2014, the only other person to have won the award was

George Steiner Francis George Steiner, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the ...

Personal life

Kazin was friends with Hannah Arendt. Kazin's son from his second marriage is historian and ''

Dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

'' co-editor

Michael Kazin Michael Kazin (born June 6, 1948) is an American historian, and professor at Georgetown University. He is co-editor of ''Dissent'' magazine. Early life Kazin was born in New York City in 1948 and was raised in Englewood, New Jersey. He is the so ...

.Roberts, Sam (May 29, 2017).
Ann Birstein, Memoirist and Novelist, Dies at 89
. ''New York Times''. Retrieved 12 February 2020. Alfred Kazin married his third wife, the writer Ann Birstein, in 1952, and they divorced in 1982; their daughter is Cathrael Kazin, who is a managing partner at Volta Learning Group.Volta Learning Group.
/ref> Kazin married a fourth time, and is survived by his widow, the writer Judith Dunford.

Death

Kazin died in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on his 83rd birthday.

Bibliography

Author

* ''On Native Grounds: An Interpretation of Modern American Prose Literature'' (1942) * ''The Open Street'' (1948) * ''A Walker in the City'' (1951) * ''The Inmost Leaf: Essays on American and European Writers'' (1955) * ''Contemporaries: Essays on Modern Life and Literature'' (1963) * ''Starting Out in the Thirties'' (1965) * ''Bright Book of Life: American Novelists and Storytellers from

Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fi ...

to Mailer'' (1973) * ''New York Jew'' (1978) * ''The State of the Book World, 1980: Three Talks'' (1980), with

Dan Lacy Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

and Ernest L. Boyer * ''An American Procession: The Major American Writers from 1830 to 1930—The Crucial Century'' (1984) * ''A Writer's America: Landscape in Literature'' (1988) * ''Our New York'' (1989), co-authored with David Finn * ''The Emmy Parrish Lectures in American Studies'' (1991) * ''Writing Was Everything'' (1995) * ''A Lifetime Burning in Every Moment: From the Journals of Alfred Kazin'' (1996) * ''God and the American Writer'' (1997) * ''Alfred Kazin's America: Critical and Personal Writings'' (2003) edited and with an introduction by Ted Solotaroff * ''Alfred Kazin's Journals'' (2011), selected and edited by Richard M. Cook

Editor (selected)

* ''The Portable

Blake Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...

'' The Viking Press 1946, reprinted many times between 1959 and 1975; Penguin Books 1976, reprinted 1977, * ''

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

: The Man and His Work'' * ''The Stature of

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

'', co-edited with Charles Shapiro * '' Emerson: A Modern Anthology'', co-edited with Daniel Aaron * ''The Works of

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

'', co-edited with Ann Birstein * ''The Open Form: Essays for Our Time'' * ''Selected Short Stories of

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

References

External links

Alfred Kazin, champion of American literature: An appreciation
by

Fred Mazelis Fred Mazelis was a third-party candidate for Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of t ...

on the ''

World Socialist Web Site The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement". The WSWS publishes articles and analys ...

''
“Correspondence between Hannah Arendt and Alfred Kazin”
with an Introduction & Commentary by Helgard Mahrdt,

Samtiden ''Samtiden'' is a Norwegian political and literary magazine. History and profile ''Samtiden'' was founded by Jørgen Brunchorst and Gerhard Gran in 1890. The magazine's first publisher was ''John Griegs forlag'' (Bergen), and from 1900 Aschehoug ...

1 - 2005, Retrieved 2 September 2014
Alfred Kazin Papers
at the New York Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazin, Alfred 1915 births 1998 deaths American literary critics City College of New York alumni Jewish American writers People from Brownsville, Brooklyn Writers from New York (state) Journalists from New York City 20th-century American non-fiction writers Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 20th-century American Jews Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters