The Enormous Room (Warbler Classics)

<p><em>The Enormous Room</em> is a fictionalized autobiographical account of the three months that E. E. Cummings spent in a French prison under suspicion of espionage-a circumstance he could have easily avoided had he professed a hatred of Germans. Instead when questioned Cummings answered French authorities in a way that insured that he would accompany his friend B. (William Slater Brown) who was indeed guilty of writing letters critical of the French government. The psychologically tense narrative-shocking and provocative in its day-juxtaposes the barbarity and inhumanity of war against the camaraderie and collective spirit of the oppressed. As a piece of writing it foreshadows the whimsy humor pessimism and jubilance that would come to characterize Cummings's poetry while on its own it stands as a major work of World War I literature. This Warbler Classics edition includes Paul Headrick's essay Brilliant Obscurity: The Reception of <em>The Enormous Room</em> as well as a detailed biographical timeline.</p>