Anthony Adverse: The Roots of the Tree

You can have your F. Scott Fitzgeralds, Ernest Hemingways and John Steinbecks, even your wimpy crybabies, the likes of Eugene O'Neill. Hervey Allen is my kind of writer! "Hervey who?," you might ask. And I would tell you HERVEY ALLEN, born William Hervey Allen, Jr. Dec. 8,1889 in Pittsburgh, PA and died Dec. 28,1949 in Coconut Grove, FL, an extremely gifted literary tour de force of prose and poetry in the 20's, 30's and 40's,obscure today, and hopefully reborn tomorrow. His epic novel Anthony Adverse published in 1933 was critically acclaimed and a huge commercial success selling more than three million copies. By comparison, F. Scott Fitzgerald's novella The Great Gatsby opened to mixed reviews in 1925 and sold less than 25,000 copies during the author's lifetime. It only became a classic after Mr. Fitzgerald died in 1940, hitting meteoric heights in the 1950's largely through literary and academic reevaluation and embrace.

Perhaps the 1,224 page historical novel published in 1933 and award winning movie released in 1936 starring Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains, and Gale Sondergaard were eclipsed by Gone with the Wind. Coming out in book form in 1936 and on film in 1939, it had a more memorable leading character via Hollywood. The subject of the American Civil War or the War for Southern Independence was more relevant to both Americans and Europeans than the Napoleonic era in Europe in 1933. More than likely, Mr. Allen would have enjoyed an everlasting international reputation in 1833 than 1933. Timing can be everything.

Anthony Adverse has brilliantly memorable characters, plotlines, action, and tremendous scope. It is beautifully written with outstanding mood and nuance; a truly great work of art; Hervey Allen had a great imagination and artistic sensibility. How is it possible literary legacy could be so utterly remiss of good judgment and taste level?