Wikipedia:Today's featured list/November 1, 2021
The bibliography of American writer John Neal (1793–1876) spans more than sixty years from the War of 1812 through Reconstruction and includes novels, short stories, poetry, articles, plays, lectures, and translations published in newspapers, magazines, literary journals, gift books, pamphlets, and books. These works made Neal the first American published in British literary journals, author of the first history of American literature, the first American art critic, a children's literature pioneer, a forerunner of the American Renaissance, and one of the first American male advocates of women's rights. He was the first American author to use natural diction, one of the first to write characters with regional American accents, and the first to use the phrase son-of-a-bitch in an American work of fiction. His critiques of literature, art, and drama anticipated future movements and contributed to the careers of many authors whose careers historically eclipsed Neal's. His short stories helped shape the genre and challenged socio-political phenomena of his time. (Full list...)