I've often felt that the parts were better than the whole, as I've read Van Wyck Brooks' beguiling searchings into our American literary heritage. This collection of miscellaneous writings, essays, biographical sketches, sketches of places and scenes, vignettes of American literary life, would seem to support this contention, for most of this material has appeared elsewhere- and in this volume some of the gems are brought together. The introductory section- Notes From a Journal, and the last long inclusion, The Literary Life in America are delightful and refreshing and challenging reading and measure his stature as a critic. All of the material drawn from the books make very good re-reading, and should provide impetus to turn again to the books themselves.