In light of a new biography of Edith Wharton, a reviewer argues that Wharton, Willa Cather, and Dawn Powell are just as deserving a place in the American literary canon as Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Faulkner. I could not agree more, having read and used in class novels by Wharton (Ethan Frome) and Cather (O Pioneers!, The Prarie).
Why aren't these women ranked higher in American literature? The reviewer suggests the relatively staid and reclusive personalities of these writers vis-a-vis their male counterparts and a lack of experimentalism in their writing accounts for the critical neglect. Click the link below for the text of the article, or see the comment.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20070412-094043-1459r
