Download or read book The Field of Nonsense written by Elizabeth Sewell and published by Dalkey Archive Scholarly. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This magnificent and witty study by an unrecognized innovator seeks to define and explore the nature of "nonsense" in literature. Relying mainly on readings of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, Elizabeth Sewell not only sets out plausible boundaries for what or does not constitutes gibberish, but elucidates just how much of what is considered "sensible" writing must rely on nonsense for its power. Comparable only to the greatest works of Viktor Shklovsky, The Field of Nonsense is a masterpiece of American literary criticism.