The Selected Prose of John Gray (British Authors Ser, 1880-1920)
by John Gray, Jerusha Hull McCormack
Category: Literary Criticism

Publication of Ian Fletcher's The Poems of John Gray (1988) was welcomed by reviewers in the U.S. and England. Now ELT Press offers a companion volume, The Selected Prose of John Gray. It complements the poetry by printing essays and short stories chosen from different periods of Gray's life--some selections previously unpublished, others having appeared only in limited periodical circulation. This new book adds to our understanding of Gray and topics relevant to the era. Professor McCormack explains the importance of the prose in her introduction: Gray has a significance for his time as a writer who has made the transition from the mannered decadence of "The Modern Actor" to the cryptic pre-modernist narrative of Park. As such, his work helps us reconstruct our own past: in particular, it requires us to acknowledge that abyss which lies between the late Victorian and the years after the Great War. As one who survived, not only personally but as a writer, Gray allows us to speculate on the strategies by which he sought to bridge that chasm. And in so doing, John Gray's work may provide an example of how on the edge of greater chasms, we may still presume to tell stories and to feel, in telling them, that they are permitted to tell us something about our experience--and ourselves. Professor McCormack traces the development of Gray's life and writings in her introductory essay. She prefaces each selection with a useful headnote. Her extensive notes to the prose clarify topical allusions and make Gray's work accessible to a wide audience.