The Significance of September 14

17 years ago

James Fenimore Cooper, Raymond Carver, Sinclair Lewis, Tom's Blog

If you have not visited Steve King’s Today in Literature, by all means you should. Just click on this link. http://www.todayinliterature.com/

Today happens to be:

1) the day John Gardner, poet, novelist and teacher died at the age of 49. He was the teacher of Raymond Carver, who is featured in A Journey Through Literary America. (As a side dish, King serves up a droll story about Jay McInerney taking Carver’s short story writing class.)

2) The day Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt was published in 1922. Sinclair Lewis is also featured in A Journey.

3) The day James Fenimore Cooper passed away in 1851. Cooper is part of the first entry in the book, entitled “Beginnings.”

4) The day on which I received the first advance copy of the book. It looks fabulous. Pardon me for looking a bit awestruck.

Maybe I evince a bit of awe that the book is finally in my hands