Description: An investigation of the phenomenon of the framed formal center in literature of the last 180 years, illuminating both the works and correspondences among works of different genres, periods, and nations.
Brief description: RICHARD KOPLEY is Distinguished Professor of English, Emeritus, Penn State University DuBois. He has published two monographs on Poe and has been editor of Resources for American Literary Study since 1992.
Review Quotes: [O]riginating mostly in the classroom, many of Kopley's chapters would furnish excellent texts to teach in combination with their primary materials, as they alert students to the formal aspects of literary writing. The historic and thematic breadth of the texts under discussion also adds to the persuasiveness of Kopley's argument for the relevance of the center, opening up intriguing possibilities for further chapters in the cultural history of the literary center. [...] [I]n drawing attention to a still strangely underdiscussed aspect of form, Kopley's ideas deserve to be in our center of attention.-- "American Studies Quarterly"