I first learned of this delightful little work as a college freshman. My professor, a remarkably learned fellow with a tremendous knowledge of American literature, would occasionally reference it with amused appreciation. In our discussion of the Last of the Mohicans, I can still recall his enjoyment in recounting Lawrence's description of Cooper, sitting in a hotel room in a European city, with his gentleman's finery, surrounded by all of the trappings of a genteel aristocrat, living a sort of Walter Mitty life through his virtual antithesis -- Natty Bumpo, the protagonist of the Leatherstocking tales. To this day, I am amazed whenever I read this little tome, since Lawrence captures, in a few short essays, the essence of such authors as Franklin, Whitman, Cooper, and Melville. His style, so cheeky and incisive, is a joy to read. Lawrence had an astonishing grasp of what it is that makes American literature so fundamentally different from that which was composed by his own countrymen. He brings a pschoanalytic, Jungian perspective to bear on these great works, and sees in Natty Bumpo, Ishmael, and other heroes of American literature the archetypes of our collective American unconscious. Of course, this work tells us as much about Lawrence as it does about great American writers, which is why it makes such great reading. Lawrence is well known for being a novelist, but his corpus contains much else besides: travel literature, criticism, poetry, essays. This one is highly recommended.
