The first guide to the work of Wyndham Lewis as writer, novelist, and critic. This critical guide introduces the reader to the work of Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957), a major modernist and thought provoking satirist who was at the centre of the avant garde in early 20th century London and a key figure in the development of Vorticism. These 15 newly commissioned essays explain the complex role Lewis's work played in the formation, development, and criticism of modernism. There are chapters on Lewis and Vorticism and Avant Gardism, War, Cultural Criticism, Satire, Race and Gender, Politics, Technology and Mass Media, and Modernism as well as individual chapters on key texts, including Tarr, The Apes of God, The Revenge for Love, The Human Age, and Self Condemned. With an Introduction, an opening chapter on Lewis's pre war writing and a closing chapter on his reputation and legacy, this is the most thorough survey of Lewis's work to date.
Provides a clear and reader friendly overview of Lewis's literary, critical, and non fictional achievements for readers with no prior knowledge of his work; includes a biographical overview of Lewis's life and writing career, a detailed bibliography and a chronology of key publication dates of academic criticism on Lewis; explores Lewis's most important novels in individual chapters and expert contributors include David Bradshaw (University of Oxford), Ian Patterson (University of Cambridge), Scott W. Klein (Wake Forest University), Miranda Hickman (McGill University), Paul Edwards (Bath Spa University), and Alan Muntun (University of Exeter).