Breslin, James E. B.William Carlos Williams: An American Artist.1970. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1985.
This "new preface" edition moves Williams out of obscurity and into the canon. Breslin is sympathetic to the aestheticism of the New Criticism, and provides a clear and unencumbered look at the life and work of William Carlos Williams.
Crawford, T. Hugh.Modernism, Medicine, and William Carlos Williams.Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1993.
This study seeks a wider "historical and sociological analysis of the discursive power of science" by examining medicine as it relates to the works of Williams. Placing him in the midst of American Modernism, Crawford examines clarity and cleanliness as two concepts that permeate Williams's writing.
Diggory, Terence.William Carlos Williams and the Ethics of Painting.Princeton: Princeton UP, 1991.
Citing previous post-structuralist "violence" done to Williams in the past, Diggory seeks a non-violent critical practice much like the one Williams found in painting. Informed by painting, Williams sought an alternative to symbolism in his literature. Diggory draws heavily from, and expands on, J. Hillis Miller's idea that Williams can "isolate and clean" his words and let them "explode into a multitude of meanings which emerge from their juxtaposition" much like paint on a canvas.
Doyle, Charles.William Carlos Williams: The Critical Heritage.London: Routledge, 1980.
This work adds insight into the state of criticism by contemporaries and near- contemporaries on the work of William Carlos Williams. Doyle provides a direct historical context for understanding the works--from the Poems of 1909 to the publication of the William Carlos Williams Reader in 1967. Of particular interest are letters and reviews from persons who comprised the contemporary literary modernism scene, among them Pound, Moore, and Crane.
Guimond, James.The Art of William Carlos Williams: A Discovery and Possession of America.Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1968.
This book, important for the treatment of the short fiction in Chapter Five, is an overview of the life and works of William Carlos Williams. Guimond contextualizes objectivism in the works of Williams, and also includes a useful bibliography.
Head, Dominic.The Modernist Short Story: A Study in Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1992.
Head locates the rise of a "different" kind of short story in the 1880s and 1890s, and appropriates the phenomenon to the realm of literary modernism. Conspicuous for its lack of particular reference to Williams, the work is important for trying to place him among (or outside of) his contemporaries--Joyce, Woolf, Mansfield, Lewis, and Lowry.
MacGowan, Christopher J.William Carlos Williams's Early Poetry: The Visual Arts Backround.Ann Arbor: UMI, 1984.
MacGowan investigates the visual influences on the works of William Carlos Williams, including the 1909 Poems, Al Que Quiere!, Kora in Hell, and Spring and All. Foremost in this project are the correlations between a visual medium (painting) and the verbal or written word (poetry).
Marling, William.William Carlos Williams and the Painters, 1909-1923.Athens: Ohio UP, 1982.
Marling addresses the problem of influences on Williams. In light of new biographical evidence and advances in historical scholarship, this study offers the theory that the same components of painting can be applied to poetry, and in fact, that this is the impetus behind Williams's early work. Williams was influenced by family and close friends--the latter the handsome Arensberg Circle, not the Stieglitz Circle as previously thought. It was this set that helped foster his visual poetics, the poetics that Marling treats at length.
Miller, J. Hillis., ed.William Carlos Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1966.
The first book of collected criticism on William Carlos Williams. Miller asserts that the collection represents the "development of literary taste in America since the '20s." Includes important articles by Pound, Moore, Kenneth Burke, Stevens, Robert Lowell, and Thom Gunn among others.
Morris, Daniel.The Writings of William Carlos Williams: Publicity for the Self. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 1995.
Using a critical perspective informed by humanistic formalism and postmodernism, Morris analyzes how Williams, throughout his writings, presented himself as a quot;threshold" figure. This "Self" for Williams becomes a representational speaker, one that can speak for those who cannot. This study is important for its close textual analysis of three of the short stories.
Peschel, Richard E., and Enid Rhodes Peschel. "When a Doctor Hates a Patient: Case History, Literary Histories." Michigan Quarterly Review 23 (1984): 402-10.
This short articles examines three instances in which a physician has to deal with a problem patient. Contrasting "The Use of Force" with the outcome of an actual case, the authors conclude that a doctor that vents his or her anger toward a patient can, in the end, feel the necessary compassion that is typical of the profession.
Schmidt, Peter.William Carlos Williams, the Arts, and Literary Tradition.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1988.
Using an interdisciplinary approach that invokes interpretive designs associated with art history, American Studies, as well as literary criticism, Schmidt concentrates on Precisionism, Cubism, and Dada as the three formative influences on Williams. This book seeks a middle ground between early criticisms of Williams that profess multiple influences, and more recent criticism that abstract and narrow the influences.
Slate, J. E. "William Carlos Williams and the Modern Short Story." Southern Review ns 4 (1968): 647-64.
Using "The Use of Force" as an example, Slate argues that Williams fashioned himself as an "esthetic revolutionary", a "dangerous outsider" or "subversive agent" within (or without) the literary world. Slate projects Williams as one who questioned the assumptions of popular fiction, and who ultimately found a modern theme, language, and detail.
Steinman, Lisa M.Made in America: Science, Technology, and American Modernist Poets.New Haven: Yale UP, 1987.
Steinman focuses on the defenses of modern art written by Williams, Moore, and Stevens--poets who were concerned about reconnecting creativity with modern reality. Another focus studies how these three helped define the subsequent relationship between poetry (creativity) and science and technology (reality).
Townley, Rod.The Early Poetry of William Carlos Williams.Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1972.
Townley focuses on the poems found in The Collected Earlier Poems and Imaginations. For convenience, some poems are reprinted in their entirety. The book defends William Carlos Williams from those critics who charge that his poetry lacks a design.
Wagner, Linda W.The Prose of William Carlos Williams.Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 1970.
The follow-up to Wagner's chronological and technical treatment of the poems of William Carlos Williams (1964), this work investigates the interrelationships of his poems and prose. Wagner argues for a unity in the works, and addresses in relative detail the traditionally underrepresented short stories.
Wallace, Emily Mitchell.A Bibliography of William Carlos Williams.Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 1968.
This book provides a complete listing and description of the following items written by William Carlos Williams: books and pamphlets written or translated by William Carlos Williams (including personal notations concerning the problems and pleasures of preparation); books, pamphlets, and portfolios with contributions; contributions to periodicals; broadsheets and leaflets (including theater programs, greeting cards, art exhibition announcements, and offprints); musical settings; recordings and radio scripts or transcripts; brief statements on book and periodical covers and in advertisements; medical journal articles; and a checklist of foreign language translations of his poetry and prose.
Weaver, Mike.William Carlos Williams: The American Background.Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1971.
The book traces the career of William Carlos Williams from his family background and his early influences to the decline of his health and his death. Weaver addresses Williams in the company of his peers in the modernist movement, and reconciles his own British critical perspective to the study of an American poet.
Whitaker, Thomas R.William Carlos Williams.Rev. ed. Twayne's United States Authors Ser. 139. Boston: Twayne, 1989.
This book contextualizes the life and works of Williams. Special attention is paid to the ideas of "conversation" and "attention."
Witemeyer, Hugh. "William Carlos Williams' Introduction to his Short Stories: A History and Some Interpretive Uses." Journal of Modern Literature18 (1993): 435-46.
Witemeyer focuses on the original introduction that was only recently published in 1990. Study of the introduction reveals previously unknown information concerning his life and his short stories.
