From 1948 to 1951, Bucknell alumnus and former professor Harry Warfel compiled biographical sketches of living American authors for his book American Novelists of Today (1951). In order to meet a July printing deadline, Warfel mailed drafts of his sketches to their respective authors in the spring of 1949, asking for their input and approval on their sketches, letting them know that this is not a book of criticism, but, rather, a space where they may correct or add to their biography, novel summaries and themes, and writing philosophies. Warfel included authors who fit the following criteria: published two or more serious novels, with one publication in the past ten years, and who were currently writing works of fiction.

The list of authors included were much expanded as the printing/publication deadline was extended, and the book was finally published in 1951. The book contains 575 “factually accurate information sketches of the life and writings of contemporary American novelists. [...] The object has been to give as complete a record as possible of the decade of the 1940s” (Warfel v). While some authors appreciated the chance to correct their own sketches (“I dearly love my publishers, but never have understood why they considered a three months’ stint as a cabdriver [...] to be a particular high point in my biography” – Willa Gibbs) and offer additional information about their lives and works, other writers responded negatively to Warfel’s request to edit and approve of their sketch: “I’m afraid you’ll have to do your own work on your own book” (Robert Nathan); “The so-called sketch sent me reads like the fumblings of a [...] twelve-year-old schoolboy. [...] I am to write for you the material which you have not the wit, the talent, or the knowledge to write yourself” (Edna Ferber).