1843–1916

In novels such as Washington Square and in a wide range of essays, Henry James examined New York City and its residents in clear, piercing prose. He loved the city for its long and respectable social history, but did not like the way things were going at the beginning of the 20th century: he declared that there were too many skyscrapers in New York and said the city was becoming a “steel–souled machine room.” Many of his famous works, such as Daisy Miller (1879) and Portrait of a Lady (1881) are sensitive, leisurely–paced psychological novels; a constant focus of his writing was the differences or similarities between American and European culture.