Jane Tompkins investigates how the literary canon is constructed and why certain popular American texts from the 19th century were systematically excluded from academic study. Tompkins, a prominent scholar in American literature, utilizes a revisionist framework to analyze the cultural function of sentimental and domestic fiction. She argues that these works were not merely aesthetic objects but active agents in shaping the social and political landscape of their time.

Scholars frequently cite this work as a foundational text in the re-evaluation of sentimental literature and the politics of canon formation. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which demands familiarity with mid-20th-century literary theory.