Kategoria BISAC: Biography & Autobiography >> Literary Figures

Using updated scholarship and never before published primary research, this new biography peels away the myths surrounding Emily Dickinson and takes a fresh look at the complex and busy life of this genius of American letters. As a research tool, the volume is also useful for its explanation of current nomenclature for the poems, mysteries and controversies, and the poet's influence on American poetry and culture.

Emily Dickinson saw fewer than a dozen of her poems published in her lifetime, but she has since become one of the most revered and beloved of all American poets. As a shy...

This meticulous biography traces Tolkien's life from his boyhood in South Africa to his formative school years in England, his college years at Oxford, and his career as an influential scholar and revolutionary writer. His immensely popular books are discussed in great detail, from their inception as ideas through their publication and remarkable legacy. This biography will appeal to students who are fans of Tolkien's books, as well as those who are new to the world of Middle Earth. Included are an extensive bibliography of poems, fiction, and scholarly work written by Tolkien, and a...

This biography traces Hughes' life and artistic development, from his early years of isolation, which fostered his fierce independence, to his prolific life as a poet, playwright, lyricist, and journalist. Hughes' inspiring story is told through 21 engaging chapters, each providing a fascinating vignette of the artistic, personal, and political associations that shaped his life. Recounted are the pivotal developments in his literary career, with all its struggles and rewards, as well as his travel adventures to Africa, Europe, and Asia, and his political commitments to fight fascism as...

This book offers readers a concise introduction to Atwood's published novels and the central themes motivating her writing. The volume starts with an overview of the author's biography and the relationship of her writing to relevant literary traditions. Because Atwood is internationally renowned, many commentaries ignore the Canadian roots of her work. Cooke corrects this oversight by sketching the ways in which her work is shaped by, and has shaped, the Canadian literary scene. As the author of a full-length Atwood biography, Cooke is able to summarize feminist, Canadian nationalist, and...

From relative obscurity, even at the time of his death in 1969, Jack Kerouac has risen to icon status with invigorated interest at all levels of scholarship and readership. This biography serves an important purpose in cutting through both the hagiography and the critical backlash that still surrounds the figure most closely identified with the Beat movement. Using the same structure--the events of his life-- that Kerouac himself utilized in writing his roman a clef novels such as "On the Road," this biography provides an accessible alternative to current studies that will help readers,...

Samuel Clemens lived 75 years, 50 under the pseudonym Mark Twain. His youth could be characterized as sometimes mischievous, his older years as generally eccentric and his writing as always provocative. Twain left a literary canon of nearly 50 books, hundreds of short stories and essays, and a veritable treasury of quotable epigrams. While his words and his works have stood up to the test of time, knowing the man behind the persona, and understanding what inspired and influenced the writer, is crucial to fully appreciating the contributions Twain made to American literature. By skillfully...

The poet Sylvia Plath has been a cultural icon since 1963 when she took her own life on a cold winter morning at the age of 30. This up-to-date biography explores the nature and sources of the mythology that has surrounded the poet's life by presenting a balanced account of her own life and the many significant people and events that influenced her.

This outstanding biography presents the facts of Plath's life as they are known in the 21st century. The research for this biography uitilizes the latest updated scholarship including new information released in the unabridged...

Erskine Caldwell's novels Tobacco Road (1932) and God's Little Acre (1933) made the author a popular and critically acclaimed chronicler of the South but also a controversial one, due to his work's political themes and depictions of sexuality. Margaret Bourke-White, fresh from her role as staff photographer for Fortune, became the first female photojournalist for LIFE in 1936, and her iconic images graced its covers and helped solidify the magazine as a preeminent visual periodical.

When Caldwell and Bourke-White married in 1939, they were both...