Robert Penn Warren, the first U.S. Poet Laureate, has received every honor this country can bestow on a writer. Warren has written fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and has proven to be one of the most versatile writers in modern times. Now, seven original essays on Warren's writing, written by leading scholars and students, have been brought together in one volume. In Warren's fiction sloth, or acedia, is the deadliest of sins. Frances Bixler examines this theme as it courses through five novels. World Enough and Time and The Cave both are analyzed in chapters of their own. Warren's volume of poetry Altitudes and Extensions is given a close reading, while his nonfiction works, particularly The Legacy of the Civil War and Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back, are also critiqued. The breadth and depth of Robert Penn Warren's canon of work are illustrated by the essays collected by James A. Grimshaw, Jr. Although many books have been written on Warren and his work, to cover such a wide range of his work in one volume is a rare achievement. James A. Grimshaw, Jr., is a professor in, and head of, the Department of Literature and Languages at East Texas State University. His publications include Robert Penn Warren: A Descriptive Bibliography and Robert Penn Warren's “Brother to Dragons”: A Discussion .
