The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

and the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors ranging from

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

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 ...

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only wr ...

, including selected writing of several

U.S. presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in pa ...

Overview and history

The ''

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the c ...

'' ("La Pléiade") series published in France provided the model for the LOA, which was long a dream of critic and author

Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...

. The initial organizers included American academic

Daniel Aaron Daniel Aaron (August 4, 1912 – April 30, 2016) was an American writer and academic who helped found the Library of America.Cromie, William J., Ken Gewertz, Corydon Ireland, and Alvin Powell"Honorary degrees awarded at Commencement's Morning Ex ...

,Cromie, William J., Ken Gewertz, Corydon Ireland, and Alvin Powell
"Honorary degrees awarded at Commencement's Morning Exercises"
, ''Harvard Gazette''. June 7, 2007. Lawrence Hughes, Helen Honig Meyer, and Roger W. Straus Jr. The initial board of advisers included

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the liter ...

, C. Vann Woodward, R. W. B. Lewis, Robert Coles,

Irving Howe Irving Howe (; June 11, 1920 – May 5, 1993) was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America. Early years Howe was born as Irving Horenstein in The Bronx, New York. He was the son o ...

, and

Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel ''The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numero ...

. Officers included

Richard Poirier Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

Jason Epstein Jason Wolkow Epstein (August 25, 1928 – February 4, 2022) was an American editor and publisher. He was the editorial director of Random House from 1976 to 1995. He also co-founded ''The New York Review of Books'' in 1963. Early life Epstein ...

, and Cheryl Hurley. Hanna M. Bercovitch served as senior editor and then editor-in-chief until her death in 1997. The first volumes were published in 1982, ten years after Wilson's death. Besides the works of many individual writers, the series includes anthologies like ''Reporting World War II'' and (in a different format from the above illustration) ''Writing Los Angeles''. The publisher aims to keep classics and notable historical and genre works in print permanently to preserve America's literary and cultural heritage. Although the LOA sells more than a quarter-million volumes annually, the publisher depends on individual contributions to help meet the costs of preparing, marketing, manufacturing, and maintaining its books. Some books published as additions to the series are not kept in print in perpetuity.

Research and scholarship

LOA volumes are prepared and edited by recognized scholars on the subject. Efforts are made to correct errors and omissions in previous editions and create a definitive version of the material. Notes on the text are normally included and the source texts identified. For instance, the LOA text of Richard Wright's ''

Native Son ''Native Son'' (1940) is a novel written by the American author Richard Wright. It tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s. While not apologizing ...

'' restored a number of passages that had been previously cut. The LOA commissioned a new translation of

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his works ...

's ''

Democracy in America (; published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. Its title literally translates to ''On Democracy in America'', but official English translations are usually simply entitl ...

'' by

Arthur Goldhammer Arthur Goldhammer (born November 17, 1946) is an American academic and translator. Early life Goldhammer studied mathematics at MIT, gaining his PhD in 1973. Career Since 1977 he has worked as a translator. He is based at the Center for Europ ...

for their edition of the text. Each volume also includes a chronology of the author's career or significant incidents in the case of the anthology volumes.

Criticism and satire

The Library of America has attracted a number of critical notices, including accusations of selection biases and the questionable inclusion of certain writers. Marketing efforts by the LOA have been faulted as overly commercial and exploitative. The LOA has been satirized as "confer ngvalue on writers by encasing their work in handsome black-jacketed covers with a stripe of red, white, and blue on the spine." The series even prompted a mocking poem that began:

It's like heaven: you've got to die
To get there. And you can't be sure.
The publisher might go out of business.

In an

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

swipe at the Library of America's selection standards, another satirical piece proclaimed that the LOA "would publish volumes of

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conra ...

's and

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

's memoirs, and possibly those of '' Jersey Shore's''

Snooki Nicole Elizabeth LaValle (née Polizzi; born November 23, 1987), best known by her nickname Snooki, is an American reality television personality. She is best known for being a cast member of the MTV reality show ''Jersey Shore'' and starring ...

." Images of the faux volumes were included. In his 2001 book ''Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future'' LOA co-founder

sharply criticized the Library of America's finances and what he saw as the publication of unnecessary anthologies and authors whose qualifications for the series were suspect. He concluded:

The Library of America has now published substantially all the work for which it was created and for which rights are available. Its obligation hereafter is to husband its resources so that this work remains in print and accessible to readers, and to ensure that funds are on hand for the publication of twentieth-century writers as rights permit.

Build and manufacture

The LOA uses paper which meets the requirements for permanence set by the

American National Standards Institute The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...

. Each volume is printed on thin acid-free paper, allowing books ranging from 700 to 1,600 pages to remain fairly compact. All volumes in the main series have the same trim size. For the hardcover editions, the binding cloth is woven

rayon Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...

, and the books are

Smyth-sewn Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, ...

. Each includes a ribbon

bookmark A bookmark is a thin marking tool, commonly made of card, leather, or fabric, used to keep track of a reader's progress in a book and allow the reader to easily return to where the previous reading session ended. Alternate materials for book ...

. The uniform

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...

Galliard The ''galliard'' (; french: gaillarde; it, gagliarda) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Dance fo ...

. The LOA publishes selected titles in paperback, mainly for the college textbook market.

Main series

Special anthologies

* ''Writing New York'' (

Phillip Lopate Phillip Lopate (born 1943) is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate. Early life Phillip Lopate was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a BA degr ...

, ed. 1998) * ''American Sea Writing'' (Peter Neill, ed. 2000) * ''Baseball'' ( Nicholas Dawidoff, ed. 2002) * ''Writing Los Angeles'' (David L. Ulin, ed. 2002) * ''Americans in Paris'' (

Adam Gopnik Adam Gopnik (born August 24, 1956) is an American writer and essayist. He is best known as a staff writer for ''The New Yorker,'' to which he has contributed non-fiction, fiction, memoir, and criticism since 1986. He is the author of nine books ...

, ed. 2004) * ''American Writers at Home'' (

J. D. McClatchy J. D. "Sandy" McClatchy (August 12, 1945 – April 10, 2018) was an American poet, opera librettist and literary critic. He was editor of the ''Yale Review'' and president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Life McClatchy was born ...

, author, Erica Lennar, photographer 2004) * ''American Movie Critics'' (Phillip Lopate, ed. 2006) * ''American Religious Poems'' (

Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking wor ...

and Jesse Zuba, eds., 2006) * ''American Food Writing'' (Molly O'Neill, ed., 2007) * ''True Crime: An American Anthology'' (Harold Schechter, ed., 2008) * ''Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing'' (

Ilan Stavans Ilan Stavans (born Ilan Stavchansky on April 7, 1961) is a Mexican-American author and academic. He writes and speaks on American, Hispanic, and Jewish cultures. He is the author of ''Quixote'' (2015) and a contributor to the ''Norton Anthology ...

, ed., 2009) * ''At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing'' ( George Kimball and John Schulian, eds., 2011) * ''The 50 Funniest American Writers: An Anthology of Humor from

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August 2 ...

'' (Andy Borowitz ed., 2011) * ''Into the Blue: American Writing on Aviation and Spaceflight'' (Joseph J. Corn, ed., 2011) * ''The Cool School: Writing from America's Hip Underground'' (

Glenn O'Brien Glenn O'Brien (March 2, 1947 – April 7, 2017) was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in ''GQ'' magazine and published a book with that title. He ...

, ed., 2013) * ''Football: Great Writing about the National Sport'' (John Schulian, ed., 2014) * ''Shake It Up: Great American Writing on Rock and Pop from

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Jay Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

'' (

Kevin Dettmar Kevin J. H. Dettmar (born 1958) is an American cultural critic who specializes in British and Irish modern literature and contemporary popular music. He is the W.M. Keck Professor of English at Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a priva ...

and

Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publishe ...

, eds., 2017) * ''Basketball: Great Writing About America's Game'' (

Alexander Wolff Alexander Wolff is a writer for ''Sports Illustrated'' and former owner of the Vermont Frost Heaves of the Premier Basketball League (PBL). He has written several books about basketball, among them ''Big Game, Small World'' (), a look at basketb ...

, ed., 2018) * ''Dance in America: A Reader's Anthology'' ( Mindy Aloff, ed., 2018) * ''The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

'' (

Lisa Yaszek Lisa Yaszek is an American academic in the field of science fiction films, particularly the history and cultural implications of the genre and underrepresented groups in science fiction, including women and people of color. She is a Regents profess ...

, ed., 2018) * ''The Great American Sports Page: A Century of Classic Columns from

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wo ...

Sally Jenkins Sally Jenkins (born October 22, 1960) is an American sports columnist and feature writer for ''The Washington Post'', and author. She was previously a senior writer for ''Sports Illustrated''. She has won the AP Sports Columnist of the Year Awa ...

'' (John Schulian, ed., 2019) * ''American Birds'' (Andrew Rubenfeld and

Terry Tempest Williams Terry Tempest Williams (born 8 September 1955), is an American writer, educator, conservationist, and activist. Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of Utah. Her work foc ...

, eds., 2020) * ''American Christmas Stories'' (

Connie Willis Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than ...

, ed., 2021) * ''Women's Liberation! Feminist Writings that Inspired a Revolution and Still Can'' (

Alix Kates Shulman Alix Kates Shulman (born August 17, 1932) is an American writer of fiction, memoirs, and essays, and a prominent early radical activist of second-wave feminism. She is best known for her bestselling debut adult novel, ''Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Qu ...

and

Honor Moore Honor Moore is an American writer of poetry, creative nonfiction and plays. Biography She is the daughter of Jenny Moore and of Bishop Paul Moore. She is the author of three collections of poems: ''Red Shoes'', ''Darling'', and ''Memoir''; two ...

, eds., 2021) * ''The Future Is Female! More Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women'' (

, ed., 2022)

American poets project

* ''

James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time Magazine'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. ...

: Selected Poems'' (Andrew Hudgins, editor 2008) * ''American Sonnets'' (

David Bromwich David Bromwich is Sterling Professor of English at Yale University. Career After graduating from Yale with a B.A. in 1973 and a Ph.D. four years later, Bromwich became an instructor at Princeton University, where he was promoted to Mellon Prof ...

, editor 2007) * ''American Wits: An Anthology of Light Verse'' (

John Hollander John Hollander (October 28, 1929 – August 17, 2013) was an American poet and literary critic. At the time of his death, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University, having previously taught at Connecticut College, Hunter C ...

, editor 2003) * ''

A. R. Ammons Archibald Randolph Ammons (February 18, 1926 – February 25, 2001) was an American poet who won the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1973 and 1993. Poetic themes Ammons wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comi ...

: Selected Poems'' (

David Lehman David Lehman (born June 11, 1948David Lehman
at poets.org) is an American poet, non-fiction writer, and li ...

, editor 2006) * ''

John Berryman John Allyn McAlpin Berryman (born John Allyn Smith, Jr.; October 25, 1914 – January 7, 1972) was an American poet and scholar. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and is considered a key figure in th ...

: Selected Poems'' ( Kevin Young, editor 2004) * ''The Essential

Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetr ...

'' (Elizabeth Alexander, editor 2005) * ''

Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...

: Collected Poems'' (Major Jackson, editor 2013 ) * ''

Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...

: Complete Poems'' (

Christopher Benfey Christopher Benfey (born October 28, 1954) is an American literary critic and Emily Dickinson scholar. He is the Mellon Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College. Early life and education Benfey was born in Merion, Pennsylvania, but spent ...

, editor 2011) * ''

Kenneth Fearing Kenneth Flexner Fearing (July 28, 1902 – June 26, 1961) was an American poet and novelist. A major poet of the Depression era, he addressed the shallowness and consumerism of American society as he saw it, often by ironically adapting the lan ...

: Selected Poems'' (Robert Polito, editor 2004) * ''

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

& Co.: Lyrics of America's First Great Popular Songs'' (Ken Emerson, editor 2010) * ''

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

: Selected Lyrics'' (Robert Kimball, editor 2009) * ''

Kenneth Koch Kenneth Koch ( ; 27 February 1925 – 6 July 2002) was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77. He was a prominent poet of the New York School of poetry. This was a loose group of poets includ ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Ron Padgett Ron Padgett (born June 17, 1942, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American poet, essayist, fiction writer, translator, and a member of the New York School. ''Great Balls of Fire'', Padgett's first full-length collection of poems, was published in 1969. He ...

, editor 2007) * ''

Emma Lazarus Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887) was an American author of poetry, prose, and translations, as well as an activist for Jewish and Georgist causes. She is remembered for writing the sonnet "The New Colossus", which was inspired ...

: Selected Poems'' (

, editor 2005) * ''

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school, which promoted a return to classical values. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on Febru ...

: Selected Poems'' (

, editor 2004) * ''

Samuel Menashe Samuel Menashe (September 16, 1925 – August 22, 2011) was an American poet. Biography Born in New York City as Samuel Menashe Weisberg, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Menashe grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, and graduated from Tow ...

: New and Selected Poems'' (

Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Un ...

, editor 2005) * ''

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

: Selected Poems'' (

, editor 2003) * ''

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

: Poems and Poetics'' (

Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of his generation, Wilbur's work, composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentle ...

, editor 2003) * ''Poems from the Women's Movement'' (

, editor 2009) * ''Poets of the Civil War'' (

, editor 2005) * ''Poets of World War II'' (Harvey Shapiro, editor 2003) * ''

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

: Selected Lyrics'' (Robert Kimball, editor 2006) * ''

Theodore Roethke Theodore Huebner Roethke ( ; May 25, 1908 – August 1, 1963) was an American poet. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation, having won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book ''The Wa ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Edward Hirsch Edward M. Hirsch (born January 20, 1950) is an American poet and critic who wrote a national bestseller about reading poetry. He has published nine books of poems, including ''The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems'' (2010), which brings toget ...

, editor 2005) * ''

Muriel Rukeyser Muriel Rukeyser (December 15, 1913 – February 12, 1980) was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her "e ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "th ...

, editor 2004) * ''

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Paul Berman Paul Lawrence Berman (born 1949) is an American writer on politics and literature. His books include ''Terror and Liberalism'' ( a ''New York Times'' best-seller in 2003), ''The Flight of the Intellectuals'', ''A Tale of Two Utopias'', ''Power and ...

, editor 2007) * ''

Karl Shapiro Karl Jay Shapiro (November 10, 1913 – May 14, 2000) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1945 for his collection ''V-Letter and Other Poems''. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to th ...

: Selected Poems'' (

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

, editor 2003) * '' Anne Stevenson: Selected Poems'' (

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...

, editor 2007) * ''

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Louis Auchincloss Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novel ...

, editor 2005) * ''

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

: Selected Poems'' (

, editor 2003) * ''

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Brenda Wineapple Brenda Wineapple is an American nonfiction writer, literary critic, and essayist who has written several books on nineteenth-century American writers. Biography Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she graduated from Brandeis University. In 2014, Win ...

, editor 2004) * ''

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of ...

, editor 2004) * ''

Yvor Winters Arthur Yvor Winters (October 17, 1900 – January 25, 1968) was an American poet and literary critic. Life Winters was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived there until 1919 except for brief stays in Seattle and in Pasadena, where his grandparen ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Thom Gunn Thomson William "Thom" Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004) was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement, and his later poetry in America, even after moving towards a looser, ...

, editor 2003) * ''

Louis Zukofsky Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was an American poet. He was the primary instigator and theorist of the so-called "Objectivist" poets, a short lived collective of poets who after several decades of obscurity would reemerge a ...

: Selected Poems'' (

Charles Bernstein Charles Bernstein may refer to: * Charles Bernstein (composer) (born 1943), American composer of film and television scores * Charles Bernstein (poet) Charles Bernstein (born April 4, 1950) is an American poet, essayist, editor, and literary sc ...

, editor 2006)

Special publications

* ''

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...

: An Album'' (

, editor, 2004) * ''Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of

Manny Farber Emanuel Farber (February 20, 1917 – August 18, 2008) was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic",Grimes, William (August 19, 2008) ''New York Times''Kiderra, Inga (August 21, 2008Obituary: Artist and Crit ...

'' (

Robert Polito Robert Polito is a poet, biographer, essayist, critic, educator, curator, and arts administrator. He received the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography in 1995 for ''Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson.'' The founding director of th ...

, editor, 2009) * ''Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu:

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...

'' (2010) * ''The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

'' (Sanford Schwartz, editor, 2011) * ''The Collected Writings of

Joe Brainard Joe Brainard (March 11, 1942 – May 25, 1994) was an American artist and writer associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs for book ...

'' (

, editor, 2012) *

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

, ''

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'' (2012) ; ''

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'' (2012) * ''American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith'' (

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, editor, 2013) * ''The Top of His Game: The Best Sportswriting of

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'' (

Bill Littlefield William Littlefield (born July 1948) was the host of National Public Radio and WBUR's Only A Game program from its beginning in 1993 to July 2018, covering mainstream and offbeat United States and international sports. Littlefield joined NPR in 1 ...

, editor, 2015) * ''

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

Assassinated!! The Firsthand Story of the Murder, Manhunt, Trial, and Mourning'' (

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Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

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, ''The American Canon: Literary Genius from Emerson to Pynchon'' (

David Mikics David Mikics is the Moores Distinguished Professor in the Department of English and the Honors College, University of Houston. His book on Stanley Kubrick in the Yale Jewish Lives series was published in 2020. His book about Saul Bellow Saul Be ...

, editor, 2019) *

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, Jenny Zhang,

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, and

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'' (

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Speaks: His Final Thoughts on Life, Writing, Spirituality, and the Promise of America, as Told to

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'' (

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: Stories, Fragments, Letters'' (2020) *

Dolores Hitchens Julia Clara Catherine Maria Dolores Robins Norton Birk Olsen Hitchens (December 25, 1907 – August 1, 1973) better known as Dolores Hitchens, was an American mystery novelist who wrote prolifically from 1938 until her death in 1973. She also wro ...

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, ''The Complete

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, ''The Heart of American Poetry'' (2022) *

, ''The Prodigal Women'' (2023)

Notes and references

Bibliography

* ''Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future'' by Jason Epstein, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001, * Michael Gorra
"The Library of America at Thirty"
''The Sewanee Review'' 120.4 (Fall 2012), 545–553. .

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