ABSTRACT
AHE MIND OF Henry Adams, his biographer thought, had constructed itself primarily for a public and political life. This life failed to nourish, or a hostile society withheld the nourishment it might have offered. So Adams turned toward a new life “which should be predominantly imaginative and prophetic.” Richard went the other way. Like Adams he wrote two novels, also short stories and plays. They don’t disgrace him, and no one except his biographer need read them. In his mistaken sense, he was born to write fiction. But this superb critic was short on creative talent, so he followed a blind alley for years. He belittled his real talent and at last he put it in jeopardy by joining the academy “after twelve years of abstinence from jobs.” He had failed at the one thing that mattered, so why shouldn’t he throw in his hand ?
