PARTISAN REVIEW
of the national experience.
It
might be more correct, however, to declare
that actually Wolfe transformed a public myth into a private legend.
The legend, in all its subjectivity, lives after him, but the myth, as an
objective creation, is missing; the frenetic and pathetic search for mean–
ing and value prevents its emergence. This is not to say, of course, that
there is no meaningful strain in Wolfe's work, or that he is a negligible
figure . There can be no doubt of his genius, but there also can be no
doubt that he lacked the intelligence to sustain his genius. The problems
that an analyst of Wolfe could profitably deal with are, on the one hand,
the relation between biography and fiction and, on the other, the relation
between critical intelligence and creative performance. Unfortunately,
Mr. Muller concerns himself with these larger problems only in a marginal
way. What he mainly attempts to do is to secure for Wolfe a safe place
in
the hierarchy of modern letters. The attempt is premature.
At all
bookstores . . . $4.50
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"Impressive and eye-opening"*
WORLD
COMMUNISM
TODAY
By MARTIN
EBON
From a front-page review in the
N. Y. Times
Book Review:
"One way to reduce the hysteria
is to slap it in the face with facts-to exorcise
the mystery in which communism has system–
atically shrouded itself. WORLD COMMU–
NISM TODAY is a highly intelligent compila–
tion of the crucial facts for just such a pur–
pose ... Its moderate tone and its hard factual
substance should commend it to all serious
students of foreign policy."
-Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
WHITTLESEY
HOUSE
A Division of the McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York 18
386
