Publisher's Synopsis
Where does a literary reputation originate and why are so many writers' reputations subject to the caprices of academic or critical fashion? Basing his arguments on the tradition of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who has survived long periods in the literary wilderness to become one of America's most important novelists, Brodhead investigates the question of how pasts get created and distributed, and what it means to live within or without the presence of such pasts.
