The Life of William Faulkner

This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962

The Life of William Faulkner
Carl Rollyson
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NZ$ 72.99
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NZ$ 60.22
Hardback
h235 x 156mm - 656pg
30 Sep 2020 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9780813944401
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By the end of volume 1 of The Life of William Faulkner ("A filling, satisfying feast for Faulk7ner aficianados"- Kirkus), the young Faulkner had gone from an unpromising, self-mythologizing bohemian to the author of some of the most innovative and enduring literature of the century, including The Sound and the Fury and Light in August. The second and concluding volume of Carl Rollyson' s ambitious biography finds Faulkner lamenting the many threats to his creative existence. Feeling, as an artist, he should be above worldly concerns and even morality, he has instead inherited only debts-a symptom of the South' s faded fortunes-and numerous mouths to feed and funerals to fund. And so he turns to the classic temptation for financially struggling writers-Hollywood. Thus begins roughly a decade of shuttling between his home and family in Mississippi-lifeblood of his art-and the backlots of the Golden Age film industry. Through Faulkner' s Hollywood years, Rollyson introduces such personalities as Humphrey Bogart and Faulkner' s long-time collaborator Howard Hawks, while telling the stories behind films such as The Big Sleep and To Have and Have Not. At the same time, he chronicles with great insight Faulkner' s rapidly crumbling though somehow resilient marriage and his numerous extramarital affairs--including his deeply felt, if ultimately doomed, relationship with Meta Carpenter. (In his grief over their breakup, Faulkner-a dipsomaniac capable of ferocious alcoholic binges-received third-degree burns when he passed out on a hotel-room radiator. ) Where most biographers and critics dismiss Faulkner' s film work as at best a necessary evil, at worst a tragic waste of his peak creative years, Rollyson approaches this period as a valuable window on his artistry. He reveals a fascinating, previously unappreciated cross-pollination between Faulkner' s film and literary work, elements from his fiction appearing in his screenplays and his film collaborations influencing his later novels-fundamentally changing the character of late-career works such as the Snopes trilogy. Rollyson takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the composition of Absalom, Absalom!, widely considered Faulkner' s masterpiece, as well as the film adaptation he authored-unproduced and never published- Revolt in the Earth. He reveals how Faulkner wrestled with the legacy of the South-both its history and its dizzying racial contradictions-and turned it into powerful art in works such as Go Down, Moses and Intruder in the Dust. Volume 2 of this monumental work rests on an unprecedented trove of research, giving us the most penetrating and comprehensive life of Faulkner and providing a fascinating look at the author' s trajectory from under-appreciated "writer' s writer" to world-renowned Nobel laureate and literary icon. In his famous Nobel speech, Faulkner said what inspired him was the human ability to prevail. In the end, this beautifully wrought life shows how Faulkner, the man and the artist, embodies this remarkable capacity to endure and prevail.
' A previously-unpublished, full-length screenplay by 20th-century novelist William Faulkner has been discovered, a murder story so complete experts say it could see him hit Hollywood again . . . Professor Carl Rollyson, author of a forthcoming Faulkner biography, spoke of his "utter excitement" in finding it. He told the Telegraph: "Nobody knows about it, no film scholar, no Faulkner person. "' - The Telegraph ' A deeply detailed account of the 1949 Nobel laureate' s early life and work. . . . Throughout, the author, an expert biographer, delivers arresting details and telling images from his subject' s life. . . A filling, satisfying feast for Faulkner aficionados. ' - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ' Despite Faulkner' s objections to biography, he has not lacked for them. . . . [Rollyson], however, is the first to examine all 105 boxes of material that Faulkner authority Carvel Collins collected for his unwritten account of the author. Tracing Faulkner' s career through roughly the middle of the journey of his life, Rollyson reveals the impulses of Faulkner' s fiction and shows how the author converted his experiences and those of his family and friends into poetry, short stories, and novels. . . . VERDICT: Rollyson' s astute analysis makes not only for a good story but also a welcome addition to Faulkner studies. ' - Library Journal ' [Rollyson] suggest[s], tantalizingly, that Faulkner' s Hollywood stint affected his novel writing. ' -Publishers Weekly ' Carl Rollyson has done a fine job here, bringing together a vast range of source materials, drawing a sharp and convincing portrait of Faulkner. This reads like a good story, and it is. It' s a great story, in fact, and all admirers of Faulkner should be grateful. ' - Jay Parini, author of One Matchless Time: A Life of William Faulkner ' It has now been fifteen years since the publication of the last full-length biography of one of the twentieth century' s most important writers, so the moment is ripe for a life of Faulkner with something new to offer readers and scholars. Rollyson has delivered a book that taps into new primary and secondary resources, and that draws on his own unique expertise as a professional biographer. This is a valuable new biography, whose sound, thorough research and judicious interpretive insights make for an appealing, balanced book. ' -Jay Watson, University of Mississippi, author of William Faulkner and the Faces of Modernity ' This is the most comprehensive, most accurate, and most revealing biography of Faulkner yet written. Thoroughly and painstakingly researched, it draws upon sources and materials not available to previous biographers. It will almost certainly come to be viewed as the definitive biography of the famous author. ' -Robert W. Hamblin, Founding Director of the Center for Faulkner Studies ' The Life of William Faulkner is the result of a remarkable amount of research and is clearly a work of love and respect for its subject and his writing. Its bibliography is 15 pages long, and it' s difficult to imagine that anyone interested in Faulkner could require a supplementary reference after the second volume is released. ' -Washington Independent Review of Books ' Rollyson' s erudite narrative chronicles Faulkner' s first thirty-seven years-from his childhood in Oxford to the publishing of masterpieces like The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Light in August-but it also gives careful attention to Faulkner' s odd personal foibles (feigning a leg injury he supposedly sustained as a pilot in World War I, for instance-in reality he never took flight) and argues for a greater significance than has been previously acknowledged of his profitable career as a screenwriter in Hollywood. ' -The New Criterion ' Rollyson' s analysis of Light in August and his portrayal of Faulkner' s ' pivotal' experiences in New Orleans are worth the wait. ' -CHOICE
Carl Rollyson, Professor Emeritus at Baruch College, The City University of New York, has published numerous biographies of literary figures such as Sylvia Plath, Susan Sontag, and Norman Mailer, as well as film icons Marilyn Monroe and Dana Andrews. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New Criterion, and the Washington Post.
Status: No local stock, title imported to order
ISBN-13: 9780813944401
Published: 30 Sep 2020
Published In: United States
Imprint: University of Virginia Press
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Format: Hardback
Height: 235mm
Width: 156mm
Pages: 656

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