Synopses & Reviews
Review
“... the cumulative effect of the essays is greater knowledge and therefore greater understanding.” —
Choice“... the essays collected in this volume reveal a rich dimension to James's life and work that has too long been ignored.” —Boston Book Review
Synopsis
This collection of essays represents the first book to explore the complex influence of homosexuality on the life and fiction of Henry James. An extensive biographical introduction is complemented by an essay documenting James' friendships with younger men, which includes quotations from unpublished letters. Other subjects include the influence on James of the emergence of a specific concept of the homosexual in Victorian England and James' reactions to the aesthetic movement. New, often radical, perspectives on stories from all phases of James' career are also included.
Synopsis
Preface Acknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction; S.M.Novick James Among the Aesthetes; R.Ellmann Henry James's Permanent Adolescence; J.R.Bradley The Art of Friendship in Roderick Hudson; G.Woods An Exchange of Gifts in The American; C.B.Torsney Failed Heterosexuality in The Portrait of a Lady; R.K.Martin A World of Female Friendship: The Bostonians; D.Van Leer Homo-Erotic Desire in the Tales of Writers and Artists; L.S.Person.Jr Dearly Beloved Friends: James's Letters to Younger Men; S.Gunter and S.Jobe Renunciation in the Late Novels; N.Buchele Index
Synopsis
Sheldon M. Novick has written an extensive biographical introduction. This is complimented by an essay documenting James's friendships with younger men, which includes quotations from unpublished letters. Other subjects include the influence on James of the emergence of a specific concept of 'the homosexual' and James's reactions to the aesthetic movement; and there are close analyses of many of James's stories and novels, selected so that all of his career is represented.
Synopsis
This collection of essays represents the first book to explore the complex influence of homosexuality on the life and fiction of Henry James.
About the Author
John R. Bradley was educated at University College in London, Dartmouth College and Exeter College in Oxford and was editor of the
London Quarterly from 1994-97.
Table of Contents
Introduction--Sheldon M. Novick * James Amongst the Aesthetes--Richard Ellmann * Henry James' Permanent Adolescence--John R. Bradley * The Art of Friendship in
Roderick Hudson --Gregory Woods * An Exchange of Gifts in
The American --Cheryl B. Torsney * Failed Heterosexuality in
The Portrait of a Lady --Robert K. Martin * A World of Female Friendship:
The Bostonians --David Van Leer * Homo-Erotic Desire in the Tales of Writers and Artists--Leland S. Person, Jr. * Dearly Beloved Friends: James' Letters to Younger Men--Susan E. Gunter & Steven H. Jobe * Renunciation in the Late Novels--Nicolas Buchele * Index
Introduction--Sheldon M. Novick * James Amongst the Aesthetes--Richard Ellmann * Henry James' Permanent Adolescence--John R. Bradley * The Art of Friendship in Roderick Hudson --Gregory Woods * An Exchange of Gifts in The American --Cheryl B. Torsney * Failed Heterosexuality in The Portrait of a Lady --Robert K. Martin * A World of Female Friendship: The Bostonians --David Van Leer * Homo-Erotic Desire in the Tales of Writers and Artists--Leland S. Person, Jr. * Dearly Beloved Friends: James' Letters to Younger Men--Susan E. Gunter & Steven H. Jobe * Renunciation in the Late Novels--Nicolas Buchele * Index