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The Resource The impossible craft : literary biography, Scott Donaldson

The impossible craft : literary biography, Scott Donaldson

Creator
Author
Summary
"In The Impossible Craft, Scott Donaldson explores the rocky territory of literary biography, the most difficult that biographers try to navigate. Writers are accustomed to controlling the narrative, and notoriously opposed to allowing intruders on their turf. They make bonfires of their papers, encourage others to destroy correspondence, write their own autobiographies, and appoint family or friends to protect their reputations as official biographers. Thomas Hardy went so far as to compose his own life story to be published after his death, while falsely assigning authorship to his widow. After a brief background sketch of the history of biography from Greco-Roman times to the present, Donaldson recounts his experiences in writing biographies of a broad range of twentieth-century American writers: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Cheever, Archibald MacLeish, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Winfield Townley Scott, and Charlie Fenton. Donaldson provides readers with a highly readable insiders'introduction to literary biography. He suggests how to conduct interviews, and what not to do during the process. He offers sound advice about how closely biographers should identify with their subjects. He examines the ethical obligations of the biographer, who must aim for the truth without unduly or unnecessarily causing discomfort or worse to survivors. He shows us why and how misinformation comes into existence and tends to persist over time. He describes zthe mythical ideal biographer,y an imaginary creature of universal intelligence and myriad talents beyond the reach of any single human being. And he suggests how its very impossibility makes the goal of writing a biography that captures the personality of an author a challenge well worth pursuing"--publisher's description
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource.
Contents
  • Beginnings
  • Topics in literary biography
  • The impossible craft
  • Case studies
  • The Cheever misadventure
Isbn
9780271067049
Instance
Label
The impossible craft : literary biography
Title
The impossible craft
Title remainder
literary biography
Statement of responsibility
Scott Donaldson
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"In The Impossible Craft, Scott Donaldson explores the rocky territory of literary biography, the most difficult that biographers try to navigate. Writers are accustomed to controlling the narrative, and notoriously opposed to allowing intruders on their turf. They make bonfires of their papers, encourage others to destroy correspondence, write their own autobiographies, and appoint family or friends to protect their reputations as official biographers. Thomas Hardy went so far as to compose his own life story to be published after his death, while falsely assigning authorship to his widow. After a brief background sketch of the history of biography from Greco-Roman times to the present, Donaldson recounts his experiences in writing biographies of a broad range of twentieth-century American writers: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Cheever, Archibald MacLeish, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Winfield Townley Scott, and Charlie Fenton. Donaldson provides readers with a highly readable insiders'introduction to literary biography. He suggests how to conduct interviews, and what not to do during the process. He offers sound advice about how closely biographers should identify with their subjects. He examines the ethical obligations of the biographer, who must aim for the truth without unduly or unnecessarily causing discomfort or worse to survivors. He shows us why and how misinformation comes into existence and tends to persist over time. He describes zthe mythical ideal biographer,y an imaginary creature of universal intelligence and myriad talents beyond the reach of any single human being. And he suggests how its very impossibility makes the goal of writing a biography that captures the personality of an author a challenge well worth pursuing"--publisher's description
Member of
Cataloging source
N$T
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1928-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Donaldson, Scott
Dewey number
920
Index
index present
LC call number
CT21
LC item number
.D68 2015
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • dictionaries
  • bibliography
Series statement
Penn State series in the history of the book
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Donaldson, Scott
  • Biography as a literary form
  • Authors
  • Authors, American
  • Biographers
  • Donaldson, Scott
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Political
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Presidents & Heads of State
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Reference
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Rich & Famous
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Royalty
  • Authors
  • Biographers
  • Biography as a literary form
Label
The impossible craft : literary biography, Scott Donaldson
Instantiates
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Beginnings -- Topics in literary biography -- The impossible craft -- Case studies -- The Cheever misadventure
Control code
914166108
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource.
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780271067049
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Sound
unknown sound
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)914166108
Label
The impossible craft : literary biography, Scott Donaldson
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Beginnings -- Topics in literary biography -- The impossible craft -- Case studies -- The Cheever misadventure
Control code
914166108
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource.
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780271067049
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Sound
unknown sound
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)914166108

Subject

Genre

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Library Locations

    • Thomas Jefferson LibraryBorrow it
      1 University Blvd, St. Louis, MO, 63121, US
      38.710138 -90.311107

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