Quiet Masterpieces

What a great question for the Literary Blog Hop (hosted by The Blue Bookcase)!  Thanks to Lisa at Bibliophiliac (from whom the question comes)...I'm sure my TBR will become much heavier after this weekend!  The question:

What literary title (fiction or non-fiction) do you love that has been under-appreciated?  What quiet masterpiece do you want more readers to know?

This question makes me happy for two reasons.  One, there are so many fabulous books that don't receive the attention they ought to, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some new treasures.  Two, I've been wanting to talk about William Maxwell and hadn't gotten around to doing it.  This is my chance!

William Maxwell (1908-2000) certainly isn't unknown.  With a long career at The New Yorker as the fiction editor (1936-1976), in addition to having many published novels and stories, he definitely has reason to be talked about.  For all this talent, however, I rarely see his name mentioned.

Early Works

My introduction to William Maxwell came through the novel They Came Like Swallows.  This very short book (192 pages) is highly autobiographical, but it is also beautifully written and incredibly captivating.  It takes place in the Midwest in 1918, and is a close look at the impact that the flu epidemic had on an 8 year-old boy.  Initially I was simply happy to have found a novel covering America during WWI with a focus on the epidemic--a topic that is often overshadowed by the devastation of WWII.  I quickly discovered, however, that this little book is something special.

Later Works

Rarely, if ever, have I read such an intimate and honest portrayal of a person's real self. It is quite commonplace to read of people's actions and doings. It is fairly typical to read a story of a person as perceived through someone else's eyes. I've often read a book that shows what a person thinks of himself. But to hear the inner workings of one's self, the feelings and thoughts and reactions that happen without our permission--or perhaps without even our conscious knowledge--and in such a matter of fact way, is moving. This is the part of a person that cries out to be loved and accepted: just as they are. This is the part of a person that is rather unexplainable. Yet William Maxwell has done it. Beautifully.

Maxwell's writing is simple, yet powerful.  If you haven't experienced it, you really should.

Want to know more?
List of Works
Quickie Wiki Bio
An Excerpt: 'The Actual Thing'
A Plethora of NY Times Articles