AfterWord: Conjuring the Literary Dead

As in Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology, the dead here communicate freely and imaginatively with the living—nearly 20 literary greats altogether—through essays, interviews, and playlets. The presentations and subjects are not all of equal value, and curiously, none of the subjects predates the 18th century: no conversations with Homer, Dante, or Shakespeare. This communion with the spirits includes a house call by Jeffrey Meyers on Dr. Johnson, who expounds on the fallacies of the American Revolution and the even more combustible topic of women; Cynthia Ozick's interview with a maddeningly elusive Henry James; Margaret Drabble's restrained essay on Arnold Bennett. Touching on the motivating fear of death inherent in the nature of authorship, these last two (previously published) pieces are among the most polished. An occasional jealousy or rivalry flares from the grave: Edith Wharton wants Pearl Buck (and us) to know that the Nobel Prize should have gone to her. But in many ways this fun idea fizzles into an academic approach presaged by a terribly sober-sided introduction.(May)