Extra Credit Questions

[Rob Wick]

Bill,

It basically started with this article in Vanity Fair in which Wilson wrote "One is bored by the dryness of his emotions and the poverty of his vocabulary." I'm not a literary critic, but I think Wilson saw in Sandburg almost a hillbilly or hick, and his poetry wasn't abstract or obtuse enough for Wilson.

Sandburg once made the comment that what irritated Wilson was that when he [Sandburg] mentioned smoke or steel, he was talking about smoke or steel. Later, Sandburg referred to Wilson as "the Arrow Collar Man" and also made fun of Wilson's numerous unhappy affairs.

Wilson also excoriated Sandburg's The Prairie Years. When Sandburg wrote "A trembling took his body and dark waves ran through him sometimes when she spoke so simple a thing as, 'The corn is getting high, isn't it?'”, Wilson snorted, "The corn is getting high indeed!"

Best
Rob