SIMMs: A Literary Life (C)

A humanities professor at the University of Arkansas, Guilds seeks to rescue writer William Gilmore Simms (1806-1870) from obscurity in this academic study. Raised by his grandmother, Simms lived in Charleston, S.C., where he published 82 books during his lifetime. Although he also wrote poetry, plays and short stories, he was best known for his southern border novels Guy Rivers (1834), The Yemassee (1835) and Mellichampe (1836). An outspoken advocate of slavery, Simms dabbled in politics and vigorously supported the southern way of life. Guilds argues that Simms's historical fiction is an epic study of the U.S. and should earn him a place as a major American writer. Interviews with Simms's descendants and access to family archives provided the author with a wealth of detail of interest to scholars. (Aug.)