Richard Yates

In Richard Yates Professors David Castronovo and Steven Goldleaf present the first full-length critical treatment of this significant and neglected figure in American realism. Arguing that "raw naturalism and subtle craftsmanship - seemingly incompatible qualities join to make Yates one of the most accomplished writers of the post-World War II period," the authors provide a comprehensive survey of Yates's life and work. An introductory chapter outlines the historical, literary, and social contexts important to Yates's writings, comparing him, for example, with his contemporaries Philip Roth and Mary McCarthy and articulating strong lines of continuity between his themes and the ideas of the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville, the Marxist-oriented socialist C. Wright Mills, and the social theoretician Erving Goffman. Next comes a thorough biographical portrait that illuminates Yates's obsession with the American middle class and its dislocated, disordered, and psychologically stifled populace, followed by sharp readings of the novels and story collections, including unfinished and minor works. Yates is placed in a long tradition that assesses the loneliness inherent in a democratic society. Written in clear, jargon-free prose, Richard Yates provides an excellent supplement for high school, college, and graduate courses in American realism, the history of the novel, and other areas of literature.