Throughout history, creative writers have often tackled topical subjects as a means to engage and influence public discourse. American authors--those born in the States and those who became naturalized citizens--have consistently found ways to be critical of the more painful pieces of the country's past yet have done so with the patriotic purpose of strengthening the nation's community and future. In History and Hope in American Literature: Models of Critical Patriotism, Ben Railton argues that it is only through an in-depth engagement with history--especially its darkest and most agonizing...