Twentieth-Century Writers 1900-1950

The last years of the nineteenth and the early years of the twentieth century were a time of great upheaval in the United States. It also saw the development of very gifted writers who chronicled those changes. This book is written for middle school students and describes eight of the best writers of that time period. They are: *) Jack London *) Sherwood Anderson *) Willa Cather *) F. Scott Fitzgerald *) William Faulkner *) Ernest Hemingway *) John Steinbeck *) Richard Wright The life and greatest works of each of these people are described in brief, yet complete detail. All of them struggled early and most struggled late, which is probably a requirement to be a good writer. After all, where do you go from the top? Most led very unusual lives, while Hemingway was the only proven suicide, London quite likely killed himself with morphine, others engaged in behavior that shortened their lives and Cather was most certainly a lesbian. They were some of the most interesting people the United States has ever produced. I am of the firm belief that to understand the literature that a person produces, you first must understand their background and experiences. This book exposes these writers as people, in general possessors of major flaws. Yet, they should be measured by the quality of their writing, which was extraordinary. That too is effectively pointed out.