author
R. Lewis
A leading American literary critic and biographer, this Pulitzer Prize winner helped generations of readers see classic U.S. writers in a fresh way. His books on Edith Wharton, Henry James, and American culture blend scholarship with a strong sense of story.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Chicago in 1917, R. W. B. Lewis became one of the best-known American literary critics of the twentieth century. He studied at Harvard and the University of Chicago, served during World War II, and later taught for many years at Yale.
He is especially remembered for The American Adam (1955), an influential study of nineteenth-century American literature and culture. He also wrote an acclaimed biography of Edith Wharton, which won the Pulitzer Prize, and later published The Jameses, a family narrative centered on Henry James and his remarkable literary circle.
Lewis wrote with the range of a scholar and the curiosity of a biographer, making literary history feel vivid and human. His work remains a welcoming doorway for readers interested in American writing, ideas, and the lives behind famous books.