The Anatomy of Influence: Literature as a Way of

Literarycriticism，asIattempttopracticeit'，writesHaroldBloomin"TheAnatomyofInfluence"，'isinthefirstplaceliterary，thatistosay，personalandpassionate'.Formorethanhalfacentury，Bloomhassharedhisprofoundknowledgeofthewrittenwordwithstudentsandreaders.Inthis，hismostcomprehensiveandaccessiblestudyofinfluence，Bloomleadsusthroughthelabyrinthinepathswhichlinkthewritersandcriticswhohaveinformedandinspiredhimforsomanyyears.Theresultis"acriticalself-portrait"，asustainedmeditationonalifelivedwithandthroughthegreatworksoftheWesterncanon：Whyhasinfluencebeenmylifelongobsessiveconcern?Whyhavecertainwritersfoundmeandnotothers?Whatistheendofaliterarylife?FeaturingextendedanalysesofBloom'smostcherishedpoets-Shakespeare，Whitman，andCrane-aswellasinspiredappreciationsofEmerson，Tennyson，Browning，Yeats，Ashbery，andothers，"TheAnatomyofInfluence"adaptsBloom'sclassicwork"TheAnxietyofInfluence"toshowuswhatgreatliteratureis，howitcomestobe，andwhyitmatters.EachchaptermapsstartlingnewliteraryconnectionsthatsuddenlyseeminevitableonceBloomhasshownushowtolistenandtoread.Afierceandintimateappreciationoftheartofliteratureonascalethattheauthorwillnotagainattempt，"TheAnatomyofInfluence"followsthesublimeworksitstudies，inspiringthereaderwithasenseofsomethingevermoreabouttobe.