Rob Velella

"A Fable for Critics" remains one of the most famous satires in American literary history. First published in 1848, its author James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) took aim at many of the most famous writers of the day, including James Feminore Cooper, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe... and even Lowell himself. Although most of his jabs were light-hearted, some still sting after more than a century and a half. Presented as a conversation with Apollo, Greek god of poetry, the poem is thick with allusions to mythology, folklore, literature, and some forgotten obscurities. In this updated edition, literary historian Rob Velella offers over 550 notes and three appendices to elucidate the text to modern readers.