Joshi, S. T. The Recognition of H. P. Lovecraft: His Rise from Obscurity to World Renown, Hippocampus Press, 2021.

Abstract

S. T. Joshi’s latest contribution to the field of Lovecraft Studies, a field to which he has tirelessly and notably dedicated his publishing career, offers a concept that is an invaluable addition to the Lovecraftian critical oeuvre—an overview of the way in which Lovecraft has been received and recognised over the past century, including both critical and academic voices alongside the response of lay readership. Indeed, Joshi presents a chronologically organised narrative of Lovecraft in print and (eventually) media, detailing Lovecraft’s own publication history as well as reviews and letters connected to Lovecraft. Joshi covers roughly a decade in each chapter and pulls from a large variety of sources in order to construct this history of Lovecraft’s writing. As a matter of fact, this chronology of Lovecraft in print is the real strength of Joshi’s book, and the most cogent aspect of his work in general. It is certainly meticulously researched, with an impressive attention to detail in terms of dates, names, locations and general information pertaining to each publication Joshi includes. However, the sheer volume of information included within the work leads it to feel, at times, little more than an annotated bibliography.