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American criticism

Book Review/Commentary: Why Lionel Trilling — and Serious Criticism — Matters

The essential task of the critic is not to like or dislike the arts or to push bromides, such as to celebrate the “power of reading.” Despite some troublesome modifications, Lionel Trilling carries on the mission of E.A. Poe and Henry James: he articulates the value of the serious act of judgment in a culture hostile to it.

By: Bill Marx Filed Under: Books, Featured Tagged: Adam Kirsch, American criticism, arts-criticism, criticism, Lionel Trilling, Literary criticism, Why Trilling Matters

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