We know the names on both sides of these coins: those of the authors being remembered, and those of the writers doing the remembering. And what a list it is: Emerson on Thoreau, Howells on Twain, Cather on Crane, Baldwin on Wright, Bellow on Cheever, and forty-three further pairings, the names amounting to almost a roll call of the American literary pantheon. The writings collected here are neither obituaries (daily journalism) nor eulogies (formal speeches delivered at the graveside). Instead, they are "commemorative essays"--pieces written shortly after the subject's death, usually by a friend or a critic, in an effort to capture the personality and define the achievement of the departed. Some are warm and affectionate, others cool and arch. Some argue for a place of literary immortality for the subject; others seek to put the subject in his place. They range in tone from the bereft to the relieved, from the compassionate to the condescending. Each is a riveting read.