Alfred Kazin: Writing Was Everything

Alfred Kazin never went for a doctorate in literature, but made his living as a literary historian and critic on the strength of his first book (On Native Grounds) and occasional pieces. His late lectures collected as Writing Was Everything (1995) divide into three sections: before, during, and after World War II. They compose a literary memoir:  intertwining intelligent commentary on the books he read with the life he led. His was the life of a deeply humane lover of literature who was a gifted stylist in his own right. And it's a slim volume so not a heavy commitment.