Conversations with Critics

Library Journal

Done in question-and-answer format, this book offers a wide range of opinion on virtually all major critical trends from the Thirties on: Marxism, the New Left, Sixties activism, feminism, structuralism, post- structuralism, deconstructionism, and beyond. The range of interviewees (old-schoolers like Kermode, Steiner, Bergonzi, the Marxist Terry Eagleton, the film-oriented Stephen Heath and Colin McCabe, A.S. Byatt, and Donald Davie) is truly impressive, offering varied viewpoints. The text is surprisingly straightforward-maybe the Q&A format keeps things focused-and the leaning, less surprisingly, is decidedly to the Left. Most interview subjects are very British, but this is still a valuable set of reflections for American academics. All interviews were previously published in PN Review. Recommended for most academic libraries, even those that subscribe to PN Review.-Robert E. Brown, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.