INDEX OF AUTHORS ACCORDING TO BIRTHPLACE 177

INDEX OF AUTHORS ACCORDING TO SUBJECT-MATTER AND LOCAL
COLOR 181




HOW TO USE THIS BOOK


This book is intended as a companion volume to _Contemporary British
Literature_; but the differences between conditions in America and in
England have made it necessary to alter somewhat the original plan.

In America today we have a few excellent writers who challenge comparison
with the best of present-day England. We have many more who have been
widely successful in the business of making novels, poems, plays, which
cannot rank as literature at all. In choosing from such a large number a
list for study, it is our hope that we have not omitted the name of any
author who counts as a force in our developing literature; but, on the
other hand, it is undoubtedly true that we have excluded many writers
whose work compares favorably with that of some on the list. Our choice
has been governed by two principles: (1) To include experimental
work--work dealing with fresh materials or attempting new methods--rather
than better work on familiar patterns; and (2) to represent varying
tendencies in the literary effort of our country today rather than work
that ranks high in popular taste. The task of doing justice to every
writer is impossible; but we have been primarily concerned not with