Once and for All: The Best of Delmore Schwartz
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The publication of this book restores a missing chapter in the history of twentieth-century American literature
With his New Directions debut in 1938, the twenty-five-year-old Delmore Schwartz was hailed as a genius and among the most promising writers of his generation. Yet he died in relative obscurity in 1966, wracked by mental illness and substance abuse. Sadly, his literary legacy has been overshadowed by the story of his tragic life.
Among poets, Schwartz was a prototype for the confessional movement made famous by his slightly younger friends Robert Lowell and John Berryman. While his stories and novellas about Jewish American experience laid the groundwork for novels by Saul Bellow (whose Humboldt’s Gift is based on Schwartz’s life) and Philip Roth.
Much of Schwartz’s writing has been out of print for decades. This volume aims to restore Schwartz to his proper place in the canon of American literature and give new readers access to the breadth of his achievement. Included are selections from the in-print stories and poems, as well as excerpts from his long unavailable epic poem Genesis, a never-completed book-length work on T. S. Eliot, and unpublished poems from his archives.
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Readers may view this new compendium as a feast, or just a tasting menu designed to entice one deeper into Schwartz's oeuvre. Either way, it shows the depth and diversity of his work. There are two pieces of fiction (one, a novella), scores of poems plucked from various published collections, three pieces of literary criticism, and several letters that, if they don't enhance Schwartz's literary reputation directly, peg him as an intriguing friend of the greats: Ezra Pound, Allen Tate, William Carlos Williams, and others. The lengthy introduction by John Ashbery serves the same purpose, discussing some of the included work, as well as placing Schwartz (1913 1966) in a literary context. Most interesting are previously unpublished fragments from a book-length study of T.S. Eliot that was never finished. "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities," a compelling short story, is set in 1909 and features the Coney Island boardwalk, a fortune teller, and childhood dreams. "The World Is a Wedding," the novella, is a quiet and sometimes rambling coming-of-age story, told in short, titled chapters each of which has immersive and sometimes provocative exchanges. The generous serving of poetry includes selections from five books, as well as a pair of unpublished poems and two unique verse dramas. This is a consistently intriguing volume that devotees and neophytes will want on their shelf.
