Professor Perry's publications extend over the fields of fiction,
criticism, and the occasional essay. His _Study of Prose Fiction_, a
clear exposition of narrative writing, is one of the best-known
college textbooks on the subject. His _Walt Whitman_ is without doubt
his most careful and elaborate critical work and is a recognized
authority. The _Amateur Spirit_, a series of familiar essays, shows
Professor Perry at his best and should be read especially by those who
delight to study the personality of an author as revealed in his work.
But whatever fame Professor Perry may have attained in the fields of
literature, to Williams men he is the teacher. In _The Amateur Spirit_
he has written: "Your born teacher is as rare as a poet.... Once in a
while a college gets hold of one. It does not always know that it has
him, and proceeds to ruin him by over-driving, the moment he shows
power; or to let another college lure him away for a few hundred
dollars more a year. But while he lasts--and sometimes, fortunately,
he lasts till the end of a long life--he transforms the lecture-hall
as by enchantment.
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