Expands on the controversial theory of revisionism presented in The Anxiety of Influence and A Map of Misreading. Bloom's 'theory' is based on a dialectic or contest involving opposing artistic and moral views which he particularly examines in relation to Romanticism, the American poetic tradition, Freud's theories, and what the author calls the 'American religion of competitiveness' that he sees best exemplified by contemporary Jewry.