American Gentleman: Social Prestige and the Modern Literary Mind

What is a gentleman? And what separates the American Gentleman from his European counterpart? This book argues that Americans express their gentlemanliness through a variety of specially adapted usages & customs. We see that American gentility has been shaped by the unique nature of the New World experience: the wilderness, race relations, transplanted Englishness, & the cherished place of business in our national consciousness. Focuses on such diverse writers as Edith Wharton, Louis Auchincloss, Robert Lowell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Walker Percy, & others to distill the essence of American gentility & the American Gentleman in his various regional appearances. Illustrations.