A MINDSCAPE: Some Soundings and Sightings from a Fifty-Year Range

A MINDSCAPE: Some Soundings and Sightings from a Fifty-Year Range is a selection of pieces written over a fifty year period-essays in the original sense of the term-attempts, examinations, or stabs at trying to understand some of the varied complexities in our American culture. The essays conduct their inquiries through the disciplines of literary history and biography, which inevitably include the author’s autobiographical experiences. Lucidly and engagingly written, and ranging between the personal memoir and objective literary criticism, but often intermixing both, these essays trace a consistent pattern of inquiry, doubt, and affirmation of the vital life-giving quality of the creative arts. Even as they bring delight to their readers, listeners, and viewers, they shape a cultural perspective for a heterogeneous society, they provide a moral standard for that culture, and they challenge and enhance the spirits of their audience.