Andrze Gasiorek, _Wyndham Lewis and Modernism_

IF YOU ARE looking for a relatively compact overview of Wyndham Lewis's writing career, there is Hugh Kenner's book from 1954 (excellent) and William Pritchard's from 1968 (very good), both titled Wyndham Lewis, which turn up in most research libraries. If you can find a copy, though, Gasiorek's book would be your best bet. Much more recent (2004), it draws on a more complex conversation about Lewis, for one thing, and it addresses the tricky topics (Hitler, misogyny, racism) much more squarely than either Kenner or Pritchard does. The book is short--165 pages, 35 of which are notes, which by the way you ought not to skip--reads well, and is deeply acquainted with both the primary texts and the secondary literature.

I found a copy via that amazing institution, interlibrary loan. Thank you, University of Wyoming library!

Gasiorek's main topic is situating Lewis in relation to Modernism, but Gasiorek does not have a set paradigm of modernism that he seeks to fit Lewis into, thank goodness. Lewis is the most idiosyncratic of modernists, and Gasiorek does justice to the ways Lewis defined and adhered to his own terms. Gasiorek's grasp of Lewis's uniqueness is particularly apparent in the detailed and forthright chapter on Lewis's politics. The topic can too fatally lead to awkward apologetics or blinkered accusations, but Gasiorek finds a golden mean.

I particularly appreciated Gasiorek's willingness to take closer looks at Left Wings over Europe and Count Your Dead--They Are Alive!, two of Lewis' polemics of the 1930s. They are usually dismissed as Lewis's worst books, which, yes, they may well be, but there is still a lot to talk about in them, As Gasiorek demonstrates.

One complaint: a book on Lewis's modernism, and no analysis of The Childermass?

Excellent discussions of Tarr, The Revenge for Love, and Self-Condemned, though, which Gasiorek connects in an insightful and convincing way.