Classics of American Literature

By: Arnold Weinstein, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Arnold Weinstein

Length: 43 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

To truly understand the United States of America, you must explore its literary tradition. Now, in this grand collection of 84 fascinating lectures, you'll get the chance to finally become familiar with America's true literary masterpieces (some you may already be familiar with, others you have yet to discover).

Professor Weinstein has crafted these lectures to explain why some works become classics while others do not, why some "immortal" works fade from our attention completely, and even why some contemporary works now being ignored or snubbed by critics may be considered immortal one day. One memorable work at a time, you'll see how each of these masterpieces shares the uncompromising uniqueness that invariably marks the entire American literary canon.

From Sleepy Hollow to The Great Gatsby and beyond, you'll journey through more than two centuries of the best writers America has yet produced, bringing out the beauty of their language, the excitement of their stories, and the value in what they say about life, power, love, adventure, and what it means, in every sense, to be American. You'll explore the roles of self-reliance and the "self-made man" in the evolution of American literature; the evolution of the American ghost story, from Poe and Hawthorne to James and Morrison; the epic strain in American literature, from Melville and Whitman to Faulkner and Ellison; the perspectives on nature revealed in poets Whitman, Dickinson, Frost, and Eliot; the tenets of Modernism in the work of Eliot, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner; the contributions of O'Neill, Miller, and Williams to American theater; and much more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1998 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1998 The Great Courses

One of the best.

This is a series for people who don't know the America Classics and want to listen to a great overview and explanation from an amazing professor who could be a professional narrator.

Exceptional scholarship

I had “read” several of the featured novels in the lectures. Professor Weinstein’s lectures kindly demonstrated that I was merely “acquainted” with these novels. His insights and the connection and context he provided brilliantly illuminated the contributions of these works to telling the story of the American ethos.

Freud Would Have Been Proud

This lecturer had some very odd pronunciations of common words which distracted me from his message. He seemed to find sexual innuendo in every piece of literature to the point that after a while I just lost interest.

Blah

The lecturer seems to frequently lose his train of thought. I thought the material to be very opinion based, where I was looking for factual information . Also the professor is obsessed with sex or thinks every writer is.

FAKE!! this book isn't REALLY available

Would you try another book from The Great Courses and/or Professor Arnold Weinstein?

Not from this con

What was most disappointing about The Great Courses’s story?

You can't download it and the first part is one big ad

Classics of American Literatures

This is a series of 84 classroom lectures on American Classic Books. I did not always agreed with the teacher but it did teach me more about the American mindset and why those books were written.

fascinating

Great Professor and interesting lectures. I got a real sense of the scope and themes in this survey of American Literature. My BA in English Literature more focused on history of Literature from England.

Excellent

50 plus years ago I finally completed all the liberal arts requirements (modern European history, religion, foreign language, English, etc.) and filled the last 2 years of college with nothing but math, physics, and chemistry. Being a slow reader and basically not too bright, I knew those required courses were valuable but not for me. Listening to these lectures confirms that I am still not too bright; however, being able to hear the details, complexity, and genius involved in the selected works (without worrying about looking like an idiot in class, or having to earn a good grade) was most enjoyable.

An odd style point of Dr. Weinstein occurs at the conclusion of most lectures. After 30 minutes of making many points and coherent argument, he ends almost without a conclusion. He seems to fade away like a rock song for which no one could write an ending.

Wonderful Odyssey through American Literature

I always learn so much from Professor Weinstein! See old classics in a new way.

Wonderful

Professor Weinstein loves his studies, and he makes me love them too. Fantastic! I learned far more here than from any teachers in my past. Truly an enjoyable experience.