Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2000. [Vol. 6.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Book reviews - Lehel Vadon: László Országh—Zsolt Virágos: Az amerikai irodalom története (A History of American Literature.)

the restrained, yet concise and painstaking logic of the authorial approach." The astuteness of the Eötvös József Publishing Company to honor the significant mission of Hungarian book publishing by making available Országh's work at the ninetieth anniversary of the author's birth cannot be overestimated. This volume, however, was not a simple reprint of the previous one as Országh's work contained only a twenty page overview of the development of post World War Two American literature until 1960. The publisher's objective of accurately informing the reader on the complex and varied developments in American literature in the past half century was realized in the best possible manner through the invitation of a former Országh student, Zsolt Virágos, a professor at the Department of North American Studies at Kossuth Lajos University, Debrecen, to summarize the history of American literature in the post1945 era. Virágos as one of the most outstanding representatives of the Országh school has provided several significant contributions towards the preservation and promotion of Országh's intellectual heritage and achievements in literary history and criticism. The lightness of Virágos's long pondered decision to continue the milestone work written thirty years earlier by his teacher was justified by his impressive professional background, his dedication to Országh's achievements, the mutually shared literary critical and aesthetic judgment criteria along with his professional humility and devotion towards the respective task. Consequently, Virágos's endeavor resulted in the extension of the autonomous life of Országh's landmark effort as the added section follows the original formal and structural guidelines, along with its intellectual spirit thereby making it an integral part of the initial work Called upon to describe the history of American literature in the past 50 years in 140 pages, Virágos encountered a daunting yet challenging and stimulating task. Following Országh's structuring philosophy, he discusses more than two hundred literary figures and their significant works. Furthermore, he describes the profound changes impacting American society, culture, and politics, while retracing the respective development trends and highlighting the significant and defining tendencies in fiction, poetry, and drama in a concise and logically structured manner. In addition to being very informative and richly documented this extensive closing chapter 233