我的第一部专著是《人造的荒野；20世纪文学评论集》，两年后，《激情生活：现代诗歌评论集》面世。

My first book was An Artificial Wilderness: Essays on Twentieth Century Literature, followed, two years later, by The Electric Life: Essays on Modern Poetry.

直到我出版第三部文集《美国的活力：小说评论集》之时，我才准备评介来自我本身文化的作家。

It was not until my third collection, American Energies: Essays on Fiction, that I was ready to take on the writers of my own culture.