The approach taken by Donald Pizer in Realism and Naturalism in Nineteenth-Century American Literature is a bit difficult to describe, though not at all difficult to grasp. Essentially it is a somewhat historicist approach, although Pizer does not simply attempt to place texts in their historical settings directly. Rather, he first establishes a working definition of realism and naturalism, then describes how certain authors and critical works identified with these movements influenced and were influenced by one another, and examines several archetypal novels to illustrate the relationship between these works and the modes of critical thought that influenced them. This is a good introductory book for those interested in broadening as well as deepening their knowledge of these two literary movements. It does assume a certain amount of knowledge of the primary authors of the later nineteenth century, but with the exception of a few of the critics discussed, most graduate students and probably the majority of undergraduates have enough knowledge (just through standard exposure to the Canon) to be able to recognize and understand the bulk of it. Pizer's style is also very straightforward, thankfully, and although I would not call it conversational or witty, it is probably easier to digest than most critical writing.

Except for a brief discussion of Mark Twain's Huck Finn in the first chapter, Pizer addresses two novels relevant to our readings in class: Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, and Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie. His interpretations are interesting in their effort to put a positive spin on the naturalist's sentiment, and the novels Pizer chooses to work with are familiar enough that there will likely continue to be points of intersection between the book and this class in spite of possible future syllabus changes.

The book is divided into thirteen chapters, but conceptually it comprises three sections. The first section is made up of the first three chapters, which seek to define realism and naturalism. Pizer's definitions take up two chapters. The third is a very brief but convenient description of Frank Norris' definition of naturalism: the "transcending synthesis" of romanticism and realism (33).

The second section is made up of the next six chapters, and is probably the most interesting and useful part of the book. In it, Pizer surprisingly concisely analyzes the historical setting of the late nineteenth century, as well as some of the more influential figures of this period, their personal and professional relationships. A good deal of the section is devoted to the enormous impact of evolutionary theory on literary critics and criticism. He also illustrates the critical truism that nothing is as simple as it seems. That is, as we examine closer, the line dividing realism from naturalism becomes blurred, as do the lines separating these movements from romanticism and modernism.

The last four chapters, then, make up the third section. Three of these are fairly straightforward critical essays examining, respectively, W.D. Howells' The Rise of Silas Lapham, Stephen Crane's Maggie, and Frank Norris' The Octopus. Oddly, Chapter 11 contains a brief history of the mutually beneficial relationship between Crane and Hamlin Garland, with a certain amount of emphasis on the points of confusion between Garland's account of their friendship and that of other historical sources. As the author states in his introduction, his intention in these chapters was to "indirectly support the conclusions reached earlier" (xi). How successful he is depends on how one interprets 'indirectly,' I suppose, but the fact remains that this final section has little to do with the work as a whole.

The thirteen chapters of the book read like a series of essays. That is, there is a definite sense of progression from one chapter to the next, yet each chapter maintains a certain amount of autonomy and at times even redundancy. There are several occasions when ideas and quotations are repeated verbatim from earlier chapters. This repetition has the beneficial potential to act as a sort of intratextual cross-referencing to a reader attempting to research a specific topic. In other words, someone researching Howellsian realism and turning to the chapter dealing with that subject would eventually come across a reference to T.S. Perry (critic, friend, and defender of Howells) that is identical to several paragraphs in another chapter that deals exclusively with Perry's criticism.

Realism and Naturalism in Nineteenth Century American Literature is a good-albeit at times eclectic-resource for those generally interested in this period, the prominent figures thereof and their literary philosophies. Its delivery is simple but not simplistic. On the other hand, those already in possession of an extensive knowledge of this area and looking for a new or challenging perspective will probably be disappointed. Another drawback may or may not be its age: the publication date of 1966 makes it neither recent nor historically contemporary. In most cases, however, and particularly for the purposes of this class, I would probably recommend it to a classmate.