James Gould Cozzens (August 19, 1903 – August 9, 1978) was a Pulitzer prize-winning American author whose work enjoyed an unusual degree of popular success and critical acclaim for more than three decades. His 1949 Pulitzer win was for the WWII race novel Guard of Honor, which more than one critic considered one of the most important accounts of the war. His 1957 Pulitzer nomination was for the best-selling novel By Love Possessed, which was later made into a popular 1961 film. The book's widespread critical acclaim by culturally conservative critics, along with a controversial 1957 Time magazine interview led to an aggressive backlash by author Irving Howe in the New Republic and avant-garde critic Dwight Macdonald in Commentary, with Macdonald's essay still considered "the most persuasively devastating review of the century" more than fifty years later. The criticism, aimed as much at critics catering to a middle- rather than highbrow sensibility as the author himself, did extensive damage to Cozzens' reputation, both during the last 20 years of his life, and posthumously.
Born |
19 August 1903 Chicago, Illinois, United States
|
Died |
9 August 1978 (aged 74) Stuart, Florida, United States
|
Zodiac | Leo |
Tags | Add tag |