In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories

2020 | Fiction & Poetry

Delmore Schwartz became the voice of a new generation, when 'In Dreams Begin Responsibilities' was published in the debut issue of Partisian Review in 1937. His influence on other writers was immediate and is still enormous; he was an influence on Philip Roth and Saul Bellow, whose 'Humbolt's Gift' is a fictionalised account of Bellow's own relationship with Schwartz. Delmore Schwartz is the only writer to be memorialised in a song by Lou Reed and also in one of John Barryman's Dream Songs. Despite his early promise and acheivement Delmore Schwartz died destitute in a New York hotel in 1966. "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and other Stories" collects eight of Schwartz's finest stories; including the seminal 'In Dreams Begin Responsibilites', the foundation for all post-World War Two American-Jewish fiction. Delmore Schwartz found a vernacular language for the generational conflict with their immigrant parents that is still captivating.

Delmore Schwartz (Author)