SOURCE: "Technique in 'The Child by Tiger': Portrait of a Mature Artist," in The South Carolina Review, Vol. 18, No. 1, Fall, 1985, pp. 83-8.

In the following essay, Stutman praises the artistic technique of "The Child by Tiger, " in which she observes Wolfe "fashioned a notable artistic statement about one man's quest for selfhood and mankind's inescapable and tragic inhumanity. "

Almost fifty years ago, Bernard DeVoto stated in his famous—or perhaps infamous—essay, that "Genius is Not Enough." DeVoto, in essence, was accusing Thomas Wolfe of using only the characters, settings, and events which occurred within his own life, thus limiting his work to mere autobiography instead of using these elements to create inspired fiction. The implication which persists to this day sustains the position that Wolfe's work at its best represents a kind of "happy accident" accomplished by some miraculous or haphazard circumstance. In addition, it is perceived...