Chicago and the Making of American Modernism

The reader emerges with new insight into the importance of Chicago in the minds of American modernists, while Moore’s shrewd close readings and archival research refresh ideas about classic texts ... Her book will be valuable to many fields of study * Modern Language Review *
Moore’s consideration of Faulkner and Fitzgerald is valuable, adding new connections between these important modernist writers and Chicago ... One strength of Moore’s work is the use of archival material as evidence of attitudes toward Chicago. * Midwest Modern Language Association *
Michelle E. Moore’s clear-eyed and engaging study helps us better understand just how much of a modernist Hemingway was by taking us back to the root of that development. Moore’s commitment to her subject matter, and the narratives she is able to build from her research, further validates Hemingway’s role as an essential American modernist who came of age as a writer not only in Paris, but in the “Wild West” of Chicago, Illinois. * The Hemingway Review *
Impressive primary source research…Throughout, Moore’s precise attention to historical detail allows her to construct well-rounded portraits of the people behind the fictional Chicago types that populate Fitzgerald’s stories, and she convincingly demonstrates how knowing more about the real backgrounds of these people enriches our understanding of Fitzgerald’s thematic concerns, especially with respect to labor relations and workers’ rights. All in all, in the Fitzgerald chapter, just as with the rest of this remarkable book, Moore offers important contributions to scholarship by highlighting the significance of Chicago-related linkages that without her careful explications readers might otherwise miss. * The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review *