The Devil and Daniel Webster and Other Writings
The Devil and Daniel Webster and Other Writings
Book by Stephen Vincent Benet
John Brown's Body
Book by Stephen Vincent Benet
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Book by Willa Cather
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Book by Baroness Orczy Emmuska
The Devil and Daniel Webster and Other Writings (Penguin Classics)
- Author: Stephen Vincent Benet
- Length: 482
- Edition: Paperback
- Publisher: Penguin Books
Description of The Devil and Daniel Webster and Other Writings:
A spirited selection from one of the most highly prized American writers of the twentieth century
Before his premature death in 1943, Stephen Vincent Benet was one of America's most prolific poets, novelists, and short-story writers. He is also, along with Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, and Robert Penn Warren, the only author to receive two Pulitzer prizes for his poetry. Featured in this anthology of his writings is a generous selection of his verse, anchored by his two Pulitzer Prize- winning poems, John Brown's Body and Western Star. Hailed by the New York Times as "an American Iliad," John Brown's Body (1929) is an epic chronicle of the Civil War, from the raid on Harper's Ferry to General Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Through a versatile array of masterly short stories, Benet explored such subjects as American society, history, politics, and the supernatural. Among the two dozen stories selected for this volume are the haunting title story and the wrenching "A Death in the Country." A final section representing Bent's nonfiction collects several of his penetrating essays on writing and education, including "Most Unforgettable Character I've Known." Sensitively selected and thoughtfully arranged, this vibrant anthology will reintroduce readers to an American master.
About Stephen Vincent Benet:
Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943), poet, novelist, and short-story writer, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His Pulitzer Prize-winning poem John Brown's Body is still considered the quintessential American war poem. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1943.
Townsend Ludington is the Boshamer Distinguished Professor of English and American Literature at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the editor of the Penguin Classics edition of Dos Passos' Three Soldiers.
Description of Stephen Vincent Benet, author of The Devil and Daniel Webster and Other Writings:
Stephen Vincent Benet's brilliant literary career was cut short with his premature death in 1943. "The world of letters," mourned President Roosevelt, "has lost one of its most commanding figures." Poet, novelist, and master of the short story, Benet was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize - first for his Civil War epic, John Brown's Body, and second, a posthumous award for his Western Star. This unique collection gathers a generous selection of Benet's verse - including the previously unpublished first book of Western Star - together wtih sixteen of his celebrated short stories. Townsend Ludington provides an illuminating introductory essay on this great, neglected American master.