Nicholas Coles and Janet Zandy’s introduction to this anthology begins with the quotation: ‘Class… [and] its relationship to works of literature: the great unexamined.’ [xix] This is taken from a short story by Tillie Olsen entitled ‘Silences’. Thus, the editors do not shirk from their task from the start, which is a monumental one, of attempting to house a comprehensive panorama of American Working Class Literature under one roof.

And yet, this is somehow achieved, and there is an incorporation of prose, poetry, and drama from well-known authors such as John Steinbeck, Langston Hughes, and Jack London, alongside unknown workers, who each give their own unique perspective on the era of American history that they experienced. The volume is chronologically organized, which is perhaps a pity, as it adds a rigidity and removes what might have been a refreshing possibility - that of a historical and literary anthology which does not feel so urgent a need of structure. This may have allowed for freer and more direct access to the lesser or unknown writers included here, of which there are many.

For each writer there is a concise yet informative introductory paragraph or two, but the editors’ intention has not been to present and analyse the individual texts, but rather to deliver their message through the texts themselves, allowing the astonishing quality and depth of the hitherto mostly untilled and unknown working-class literature to bear comparison with more well-known authors that wrote of their era.    

However, a further problem is the volume’s lack of focus. It is, without doubt comprehensive: over nine hundred pages in length, covering every period of American history (which is divided into seven) from 1600 to 2005. Where this kind of effort is to be applauded, and, indeed, fills a niche - since no such single volume was previously available - there is a danger, in not selecting one particular era of working class writing on which to base the anthology, of the reader overlooking certain eras, and therefore excluding others, or simply becoming overwhelmed by the enormous wealth of material at his or her disposal. The small font suggests as much as possible has been packed between the covers, but this impedes and repels, rather than tempts the reader. Since the editors state in their introduction that they are attempting to address the fact that the working-class aspect of literature has been ‘left out of the mainstream literary canon’ [xix], one would have expected this to have been a better packaged volume to aid the effort to reverse this trend. 

Nevertheless, the editors have succeeded in delivering a comprehensive account, and, however aesthetically unattractive the outcome, American working class literature is now available to the reader as one affordable paperback. And perhaps this is the most important thing of all. The selections are wide-ranging, incorporating written works from every aspect of American working-class life, and encompassing a vast array of styles, and each writer is given a solid, concise introduction. It is also racially balanced, offering unique insights and comparisons regarding racial attitudes throughout American history, and, in particular, in working-class life, available to the reader through an analysis of the texts themselves.