Dream Life

College ambitions and romantic daydreams take shape through a voice that addresses a young collegian as "you." In Dream Life: A Fable of the Seasons, Donald Grant Mitchell blends reflective prose with scenes of youthful hopes, disappointments and self-importance. The college passage moves from a reprimand and a stay with a country clergyman to village society, literary ideals and an admiration inspired by Greek poetry. Feeling and vanity repeatedly pull against each other.

The opening preface adds a personal account of Mitchell's friendship with Washington Irving, including walks at Saratoga and conversations about observation, memory and the difficulties of writing. These recollections sit alongside the book's meditation on life, giving readers both literary companionship and a close look at the habits of an ambitious young mind. Its appeal lies in the specific details of social life and the changing language people use to explain their feelings.