Oh, it even looks like it's in print. Awesome! Thanks for the recommendation.
Oh, lucky, lucky you to have spent so much time with William Maxwell. I haven't even read all of his books (or stories) yet - I seem to wind up reading The Château over and over. I found a copy of Time Will Darken It recently, though.
I don't know too much about him (I badgered my old library into buying a copy of a WM biography a couple of years ago, but I didn't get around to reading it because I wanted to read all his stuff first) but I have read the edition of letters he exchanged with STW (several times) and, well.
I gather a lot of his material is semi-autobiographical and I tend to put WM in as the male protagonists in his novels - not, I don't think, with The Folded Leaf because I don't think I knew anything about WM when I read that. I was impatient with the plot of So Long, See You Tomorrow, a bit, because I wanted more of the narrator.
Yes, a lot of it is semi-autobiographical, and The Folded Leaf, which is what I wrote my thesis on, is actually absolutely biographical. He had a very similar Spud/Limey relationship with a friend when he was in high school and college. TFL that is in print now has a different ending from the first printing in '45. The ending was suggested by Maxwell's psychotherapist, who thought that creating a more 'positive' (heteronormative) ending would encourage Maxwell to have one in real life, too. The ending he replaced it with on the next, and all subsequent printings, is the original one, and of course, it's far more ambiguous about the relationship between the 3 and Limey's state of mind.
The book of letters between WM and STW was my introduction to her work, and she blows me away. I am awed by how many writers he worked with.
Oh, that is interesting! I never knew. I hope that worked out for him in real life. I mean, I know he married and had two daughters, but I hope he was as happy with it all as I like to think of him as being.
The book that WM edited of STW's letters was my introduction to her work, and the next thing I read was The Element of Lavishness, which was my introduction to his, really.
I've read all of STW's novels, and love them (except for maybe After the Death of Don Juan, which I merely like) but I have rereads ahead of me, and most of her short stories.
I have a copy of Family Happiness, and I'm going to start it once I finish at least one of the three books I'm already reading. I just love her style to bits.
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And the Elizabeth Bowen books sound fun!
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I found this interview just now when I trying to find out what she's up to. (Teaching, it looks like.)
Bowen's books (the two that I've read) are kind of cheerless, really, but they are awfully good.
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Also, if you haven't yet, you must read Elizabeth Bowen's The Little Girls. Amazing.
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Oh, lucky, lucky you to have spent so much time with William Maxwell. I haven't even read all of his books (or stories) yet - I seem to wind up reading The Château over and over. I found a copy of Time Will Darken It recently, though.
I don't know too much about him (I badgered my old library into buying a copy of a WM biography a couple of years ago, but I didn't get around to reading it because I wanted to read all his stuff first) but I have read the edition of letters he exchanged with STW (several times) and, well.
I gather a lot of his material is semi-autobiographical and I tend to put WM in as the male protagonists in his novels - not, I don't think, with The Folded Leaf because I don't think I knew anything about WM when I read that. I was impatient with the plot of So Long, See You Tomorrow, a bit, because I wanted more of the narrator.
William Maxwell: DO TELL.
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Yes, a lot of it is semi-autobiographical, and The Folded Leaf, which is what I wrote my thesis on, is actually absolutely biographical. He had a very similar Spud/Limey relationship with a friend when he was in high school and college. TFL that is in print now has a different ending from the first printing in '45. The ending was suggested by Maxwell's psychotherapist, who thought that creating a more 'positive' (heteronormative) ending would encourage Maxwell to have one in real life, too. The ending he replaced it with on the next, and all subsequent printings, is the original one, and of course, it's far more ambiguous about the relationship between the 3 and Limey's state of mind.
The book of letters between WM and STW was my introduction to her work, and she blows me away. I am awed by how many writers he worked with.
Reply
The book that WM edited of STW's letters was my introduction to her work, and the next thing I read was The Element of Lavishness, which was my introduction to his, really.
I've read all of STW's novels, and love them (except for maybe After the Death of Don Juan, which I merely like) but I have rereads ahead of me, and most of her short stories.
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