Jean Toomer and the Prison-House of Thought: a Phenomenology of the Spirit by Jones, Robert B - 1993

Amherst, MA: Univ Of Massachusetts Pr. New in New dust jacket. 1993. First Edition. Hardcover. Best known for his experimental novel 'Cane', Jean Toomer (1894-1967) is associated with the flowering of the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1920s as well as the postwar movement known as the Lost Generation. But Toomer was an enigmatic writer with a mystical vision of life. He followed his own path, which led him on a lifelong quest for spiritual truth. This book provides the first comprehensive survey of Toome's writings, including many unpublished works. Critiquing the subjective idealism that lies at the center of Toomer's oeuvre through the lens of Lukacs's theory of reification, Robert B. Jones frames his analysis in terms of Kierkegaard's stages of development - the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious. The result is a thoughtful, well-written study that casts new light on Toomer's literary and intellectual development from a variety of critical perspectives. 191 pages consisting of the three spheres, notes, extensive bibliography from 1923-1992 and secondary sources, and an extensive index. The binding is light grey cloth. The jacket is in a protective cover. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. .