David Wyatt's “Secret Histories: Reading Twentieth Century American Literature”

David Wyatt's newest book is scheduled to come out October, 2010.

Professor David Wyatt’s new book, “Secret Histories: Reading Twentieth Century American Literature,” is scheduled to come out in October of this year. Professor Wyatt’s text uncovers real American histories hidden within the pages of our Literature. When asked about “Secret Histories,” Wyatt explains, "At the age of twenty-six, I was hired by the University of Virginia to teach a course called 'Twentieth-Century American Literature,' and I have done so almost every year since. When the century turned, I decided to write a book about that experience. This became my second education, as I had to sit down and finally read the books I was supposed to have known. The result is "Secret Histories," my love letter to our indispensable past." Wyatt’s book both works to trace our multifaceted American past and models empathetic reading as his act of historical co-creation.

According to Bryan Waterman of NYU, Wyatt’s new book “offers a scholarly career's worth of genuine insight and illumination." That career has included over twenty years of teaching here in College Park, following time spent teaching at UVA and Princeton. The list of Professor Wyatt’s critical contributions to the field of 19th and 20th Century American Literature is extensive, and ever-growing. The book explores a literary gamut, including names like Du Bois, Welty, Yezierska, and Fitzgerald. “Secret Histories” is Wyatt’s testament to the vital role of literature to the formation of a complex, collective American past.