Morris, Wright - Joseph J. Wydeven (essay date 1998)

Joseph J. Wydeven (essay date 1998)

SOURCE: “‘No Place to Hide’: Biographical and Critical Backgrounds,” in Wright Morris Revisited, Twayne Publishers, 1998, pp. 1-17.

[In the following excerpt from the introductory chapter of Wright Morris Revisited, Wydeven offers a thumbnail summation of Morris's major themes and techniques.]

Throughout his active career, spanning the half century from 1942 to 1991 (when he stopped writing) and more than 30 books of fiction, commentary, and photo-text, Wright Morris remained resolutely independent, gradually establishing respectable reputations as both writer and photographer. He has resisted labeling as a realist or as a regionalist, and his experimentation has sometimes made his work difficult; he has insisted, particularly in his photo-texts and in his often extraordinarily visual prose, that readers be willing to cross generic borders, attend closely to detail, and draw conclusions...

[The entire page is 1296 words long]

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