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Fascinating conversations with one of the twentieth century's leading literary critic, author, and cultural gadfly.
Author and gadfly Leslie Fiedler was one of the best-known names in twentieth-century literary criticism. He promoted postwar American literature to a large, general audience. He was particularly beloved as a professor at the University at Buffalo, where he spent the last three decades of his life teaching and helping establish its English Department as one of the leading centers for critical thinking in the country. He was close to many of the period's most influential literary figures—poets Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, and Amiri Baraka among them. In this book, his longtime friends and colleagues Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian present their memories of Fielder as a master storyteller. Inspired by joyful visits spent listening to Fiedler’s engaging yarns, they decided to tape a series of interviews with him in 1989 when he reached his 72nd year. Presented here in their entirety, they give a complete picture of Fiedler's life and times, from his upbringing in Jewish Newark, New Jersey, through his service in World War II and his rich academic and political life. Along the way, the reader is quickly absorbed by Fiedler’s unique voice and perspective. For anyone interested in the history of postwar American culture, this book will be a must read.
"One of the earliest and greatest cultural critics, Leslie Fiedler never wrote an autobiography, but these fascinating reminiscences reveal much about his life and work. Kind of a Conversation highlights his World War II experiences, his life as an academic, his fellow writers, and his complicated feelings about being Jewish. A provocateur, enfant terrible, raconteur, and disturber of the peace, Fiedler was an American original, offering a unique vision of a professor: 'a man whose province was the whole world of books and who is completely contemptuous of the standards of the timid people around him.' Whether one agrees or disagrees with Leslie Fiedler's pronouncements, he is always brilliant." — Jeffrey Berman, University at Albany, State University of New York
"This conversation brings back to life Leslie Fiedler's unique voice— American, Jewish, literary—promising to capture a new audience and reconnect with an older one. This book is another step toward the rediscovery and re-examination of a critical genius." — Samuele F. S. Pardini, editor of Writing Home: Selected World War II Letters of Leslie A. Fiedler