July 16, 1999

Anthologies Revisited

To the Editor:

Nina Baym complains ("Anthologies Serve a Useful Purpose," Letters to the Editor, May 28) that in my essay, "Why Big Anthologies Make Bad Textbooks" (Opinion, April 16), I propose "pure literary value" as the "only valid criterion." How absurd, Baym implies, given that "literary value" is, in her words, "a moving target." But is it in fact absurd to use literary criteria in a book called The

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