Cover -- Half-title -- Series-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- REALIST DISPOSITIONS -- MATERIAL CLAIMS -- CHAPTER ONE William Dean Howells and the roots of realist taste -- REALIST TASTE VERSUS PHILISTINISM -- "ALL THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE NOW" -- CONTINGENCY, IRONY, AND CONJUGALITY -- CHAPTER TWO The "facts of physical suffering," the literary intellectual, and The Wings of the Dove -- THE FACTS OF PHYSICAL SUFFERING -- THE REAL, THE RIGHT STILLNESS -- "TOO BEAUTIFUL AND TOO SACRED TO DESCRIBE" -- INTENSELY TO CONSULT AND INTENSELY TO IGNORE -- CHAPTER THREE The "genuine article": credit and ethnicity in The Rise of David Levinsky -- FINANCIAL CAPITAL, INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL -- RAW MATERIAL -- DIALECT AND LEVINSKY'S RISE -- RECOGNIZING MISRECOGNITION -- THE GENUINE ARTICLE -- YIDDISH-SPEAKING WOMEN -- CHAPTER FOUR What Nona knows -- ONE OF THE TRENCH WATCHERS -- HANDLES OF REALITY -- POWERS OF DARKNESS -- NONA'S HANDS -- CHAPTER FIVE From reality, to materiality, to the real (and back again): the dynamics of distinction on the recent critical… -- WHAT MATTERS -- Notes -- INTRODUCTION -- 1 WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS AND THE ROOTS OF REALIST TASTE -- 2 THE "FACTS OF PHYSICAL SUFFERING" -- 3 THE "GENUINE ARTICLE": CREDIT AND ETHINICITY IN THE RISE OF DAVID LEVINSKY -- 4 WHAT NONA KNOWS -- 5 FROM REALITY, TO MATERIALITY, TO THE REAL (AND BACK AGAIN): THE DYNAMICS OF DISTINCTION ON THE RECENT CRITICAL SCENE -- Bibliography -- Index.