With this novel, published in 1890, William Dean Howells (1837-1920) at last answered the call of his own campaign for literary realism in American letters. For years he had used his editorial powers at the

and

to promote realist theory and technique and to advocate on behalf of novelists who shared his dedication to the “simple and truthful treatment of material”. While his other fictions of the 1880s were all the while building in this direction – from

(1885) to

(1886) and

(1889) –

offered Howells the largest social arena in which to translate his theories into practice. The setting is New York; the moment is the present; the issues are timeless.

Howells’s

908 words

Citation: Anesko, Michael. "A Hazard of New Fortunes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7147, accessed 22 November 2024.]