E. B. White The Essayist as First-Class Writer

'Atkins makes a case not only for the clarity and congeniality of E. B. White's writing, but for what is often overlooked, his complexity. White was not just an old curmudgeon messing about with rats and pigs and spiders on his Maine farm; he was a significant thinker who reflected many key perspectives of the twentieth century: the fear of nuclear war, the need for urbanites to simplify their lives and get back in touch with gardening, the hazards of racism, New York City and its complications, illness, politics, and death. Atkins develops all of these themes and more in his analysis of White. But more than the subject matter, Atkins also opens discussions of White's style: his strengths, and even some of his weaknesses as a writer.' Dr. Steven Faulkner, Longwood University