{"product_id":"2026770002051-secondhand-a-world-elsewhere-the-place-of-style-in-american-literature","title":"A World Elsewhere: The Place Of Style In American Literature","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good                          \u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good                  \u003cbr\u003eMarkings: No markings\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA landmark work of American literary criticism, A World Elsewhere: The Place of Style in American Literature argues that the defining impulse of the American literary imagination is the creation of an alternative world through the power of language and style itself. Richard Poirier presents a bold and intellectually rigorous thesis: that writers from Emerson and Thoreau to Hawthorne, Melville, James, and Fitzgerald share a common ambition to construct, through the sheer force of their prose, environments liberated from the constraints of social reality. With a tone that is authoritative yet deeply engaged, the work illustrates how style in American literature is not mere ornamentation but an act of radical self-assertion and world-making. Poirier's analysis uncovers the tensions between this visionary literary ambition and the inevitable encroachment of society, history, and convention, revealing a persistent and uniquely American struggle at the heart of the nation's greatest writing. First published in 1966, this critical masterwork remains an essential and provocative text for anyone serious about understanding the American literary tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48839380828379,"sku":"2026770002051-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/f858ee46-5bd1-447a-906f-5a49ffc1cdfd.png?v=1780561051","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026770002051-secondhand-a-world-elsewhere-the-place-of-style-in-american-literature","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}