Maurice Yacowar to James H. Meredith (1 October 1962)

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John Lyly and the uses of irony

This thesis investigates Lyly's ironic use of traditional images, character types, plot situations, and forms of expression to suggest that Euphues was conceived in a spirit of extravagance. Part One examines the irony in Lyly's drama. His technique is based upon the principle of contrast, the part always to be considered in the light of its context. The integration of the songs supports their claim to Lyly's authorship. Sometimes the play is 'framed' by pertinent prologue and epilogue, confirming the effect of context. Lyly's court comedies aroused and complimented Queen Elizabeth but also contained a hidden element of instruction and request. Part Two suggests that Euphues was an ironic exhibition of false wit, sophistry, and rhetorical artifice intended to test the reader's power to discriminate substance from style. Lyly remains uncommitted to the style and the attitudes of Euphues. Part Three offers further evidence of Lyly's subtlety in wording and his skill in other-statement. A tradition of ironic euphuism is traced through Gascoigne, Pettie, Lyly and Shakespeare. The conclusion summarises the motives of the ironist

Anna Maria Torriglia, Broken Time, Fragmented Space: A Cultural Map of Postwar Italy. Reviewed by Maurice Yacowar.

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Roy & Me: This Is Not a Memoir

Maurice Yacowar challenges genre and form in Roy & Me, a cross between memoir and fiction, truth and distortion. It is the exploration of Yacowar’s relationship with Roy Farran—soldier, politician, author, mentor—and his conflict with Farran’s anti-Semitic past. Best known for his service with the British Special Air Service during World War II, Roy Farran served as a politician in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Premier Peter Lougheed. During his time in Israel as a soldier, Farran allegedly kidnapped and murdered a sixteen-year-old member of the Lehi group, also known as the Stern Gang. Roy & Me is a memoir that edges toward fiction by venturing into Roy Farran’s thoughts, drawing simultaneously on his writings and Yacowar’s own imagination

"Passing." Review of Steven Spielberg, Catch Me If You Can. Reviewed by Maurice Yacowar.

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