"A biography of the little-known editor and literary critic Malcolm Cowley, who helped shape the American literary landscape in the first half of the twentieth century and established the careers and cemented the legacies of famed writers such as William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, and Ken Kesey"-- Provided by publisher

This book profiles Malcolm Cowley, a pivotal yet often overlooked figure in 20th-century American literary culture. It traces his role in championing writers such as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Kerouac, and Kesey, and his influence on defining major literary movements from the Lost Generation to the Beats and the 1960s counterculture. Through Cowley's wide-ranging career as critic, editor, and behind-the-scenes tastemaker, Gerald Howard illustrates how canon formation occurred and how American literature evolved between the 1920s and 1960s. The biography also reflects broader shifts in American publishing, culture, and politics