Vincent McHugh (1904–1983)

More timely than ever. An interesting tale, charmingly presented.

Virtually unknown today, this book poses the problem: How does a modern city cope with an epidemic? How does a city cope with a decidedly non-lethal epidemic? How does a modern city keep running when most people are too content to want to go to work?

McHugh digs Kenneth Burke, and uses the premier American literary critic, as a discussion point of what is and is not a novel. He also has high regard for Henry James, so he is very much an American Modern Lit man; though at points he goes into historical relevant pieces as well as some rather avant garde ones. He often compares various points of the novel to short stories, showing where most writer fail; typically in tone and staccato sentencing. Yet he does go beyond that, breaking the show more novel into its various components of tone, theme, characterization, narration et alia. There is a lot here as in so many ways this is a textbook of How to Read and Write a Novel but not a workbook as there are no assignments. show less