Henry James Writes New York

“Henry James’s association with New York is such an unexamined assumption for most critics, that Leonardo Buonomo’s book comes with the force of a shock of recognition. Buonomo’s thorough and insightful reading does not simply show the extent and pervasiveness of the New York setting in James’s life and his oeuvre: it endows it with a rich and nuanced critical significance, connecting the city with some crucial kernels of the novelist’s world—gender, sexuality, and the relationship of the aesthetic to the economic.” — Donatella Izzo, Professor of American Literature, Università di Napoli L’Orientale, Italy “Henry James Writes New York is written with authority and intelligence, with a deep knowledge of both text and context. Leonardo Buonomo has identified an element in Henry James’s imagination that is all the more essential for being ambiguous and unresolved, an element that requires the type of nuanced, careful and astute examination that is offered in this important book.” — Colm Tóibín, author of The Master “Buonomo’s writing is clear and accessible for the interested reader. At the same time, Henry James Writes New York is an important and very useful place of orientation for the experienced Jamesian too.” — Greg W. Zacharias, Professor of English, Director, Center for Henry James Studies, Creighton University, USA This book offers the first full-length study of Henry James’s relationship with, and literary treatment of, New York. It shows how the city, whether observed or reimagined, always remained an essential component of James’s identity. New York compelled James to confront both his status as an American-born male artist and his age’s prevailing notions of gender, sexuality, class, citizenship, and success. Tracing James’s attachment to the city and how it evolved during his lifetime, this book examines a wide range of James’s works, from his short stories and novels to his non-fiction writing. Leonardo Buonomo is Professor of American Literature at the University of Trieste, Italy. He is the author of Immigration, Ethnicity, and Class in American Writing, 1830–1860 (2014).