Editing Heavenly Discourse (section)

== Publication ==
Wood primarily wrote poetry and serious prose.{{sfn|Bingham|1958|p=45}}{{sfn|Robbins|Frank|Ross|1983|p=162}} However, [[Max Eastman]] and [[John Reed (journalist)|John Reed]], co-editors of the radical magazine ''[[The Masses]]'',{{efn|Sources disagree on who the editor(s) of ''The Masses'' was or were, and it may have changed in time. {{harvtxt|Bingham|Barnes|1997|p=265-267}} and {{harvtxt|Robbins|Frank|Ross|1983|p=162}} both list Eastman and John Reed. {{harvtxt | Starr | 2002 | p=63}} lists Eastman and [[Floyd Dell]]. The Wikipedia article for ''[[The Masses]]'' seems to indicate that it was just Eastman.}} asked him to write something humorous for their periodical. The result was a short satirical attack on [[World War I]] named ''The Heavenly Dialogue'', published in 1914. This became the first of a series of similar dialogues.{{sfn|Bingham|Barnes|1997|p=265-267}} Ten of these were published in ''[[The Masses]]''. Following passage of the [[Espionage Act of 1917]], ''The Masses'' was suppressed by the U. S. government on the grounds that it was detrimental to the war effort. Wood continued to write more discourses.{{cn|date=January 2018}} After [[World War I]], Max Eastman and others urged publication of the discourses in book form.{{sfn|''Publishers Weekly''|1940}} In 1927, the Vanguard Press published a collection of forty-one of them under the title ''Heavenly Discourse''.{{cn|date=January 2018}}