Over the decades, Daniel Aaron has made an extraordinary contribution to the study of American literature and culture. As social historian, critic, and literary journalist, Aaron has covered a diverse range of subjects in a flow of articles and review essays.

This first collection of Aaron's influential writings focuses on American novels, poems, biographies, and auto biographies that are viewed largely as cultural artifacts. Many of the selections explore the relation of literature and history, a theme that runs through much of Aaron's work.

An engaging introduction by Aaron as well as informative section headnotes offer personal reflections, explanations, asides, and reminiscences that enrich the readers understanding of the topics, the times, and the author. In Aaron's own words, the volume "traces the saltatory course of a career largely spent thinking and talking about American things."