[Yvor Winters] is not amiable, not charming, obviously very earnest, and willing to split a hair to any distinguishable degree of fineness. Moreover, he exhibits all the rancor of a man who has pondered a matter long and carefully, and knows that he is right. He is perhaps our most logically rigorous critic; he is certainly one of the most intelligent; and he is undoubtedly the most cantankerous. (p. 283)

[The Anatomy of Nonsense] breaks up into five sections. The first treats Henry Adams under the damning subtitle, "The Creation of Confusion." It is a useful and able essay. Adams has, in my opinion, much to answer for, though the subtitle overstates the case. Winters is not interested in the whole story, and Henry Adams may well look elsewhere for his full due. But the negative job needed to be done, and Winters has done it thoroughly.

The second...