Synopses & Reviews
James A. Michener was one of the most beloved storytellers of our time, captivating readers with sweeping historical plots that educated and entertained. In this first full-length biography of the private as well as the public Michener, Stephen J. May reveals how an aspiring writer became a best-selling novelist. It is the only book to draw on Michenerand#8217;s complete papers as well as interviews with his friends and associates. The result conveys much about Michener never before revealed in print.
May follows the young Michener from an impoverished Pennsylvania childhood to the wartime Pacific, where he found inspiration for Tales of the South Pacific, a book that led to a string of best sellers, including The Source, Centennial, Chesapeake, and The Covenant. May provides insights into Michenerand#8217;s personal life: his three marriages, his unique working methods, and his social and political views. He also reveals the authorand#8217;s hypersensitivity to criticism, his egotism, and his failure on some occasions to acknowledge the contributions of his assistants.
Examining Michenerand#8217;s body of writing in its biographical and cultural contexts, May describes the creation of each novel and assesses the bookand#8217;s strengths and shortcomings. His close readings underscore Michenerand#8217;s innovativeness in presenting mountains of historical and cultural research in an engaging literary form.
This probing biography establishes Michenerand#8217;s place in twentieth-century letters as it offers an unprecedented view of the man behind the typewriter.
About the Author
Stephen J. May is the author of a literary biography of Zane Grey. He resides in Fort Collins, Colorado.