Synopses & Reviews
Art is confession; art is the secret told. . . . But art is not only the desire to tell one's secret; it is the desire to tell it and hide it at the same time. And the secret is nothing more than the whole drama of the inner life.—Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder: A Life, the first biography of the playwright and novelist since 1983, is also the first to be based on thousands of pages of letters, journals, manuscripts, and other documentary evidence of Wilder's life, work, and times. For more than a decade, biographer Penelope Niven has worked with unprecedented access to Wilder's papers, including his family's private journals and records, searching for the secrets that illuminate Wilder's public life and work, as well as the hidden inner self sometimes concealed and sometimes revealed in his art and in his papers.
Thornton Wilder was a multifaceted man: a teacher, novelist, playwright, lecturer, actor, musician, soldier, man of letters, outspoken citizen, and international public figure. He was also an enigmatic, intensely private man. He belonged to a close-knit, complicated family—two brilliant parents, four gifted siblings, and the specter of his twin brother lost at birth. His biography is also a compelling family saga, starring Thornton Wilder, with strong supporting roles played by his father, mother, brother, and sisters.
He was a gypsy, wandering the world, writing, he said, for and about everybody—a fact international audiences still embrace. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Eighth Day, and his other novels are still read in the United States and abroad. His plays, especially the iconic Our Town and the revolutionary Skin of Our Teeth, are still performed on stages around the globe.
Yet despite the international fame and visibility of Wilder the writer, far too little has been known or understood about Wilder the man—until now. Comprehensively researched and richly detailed, Thornton Wilder: A Life brings the private man center stage and sheds new light on his published and unpublished work.
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"A powerful and much-needed portrayal of a major American writer and social critic." < i=""> New York Times Book Review <> on < i=""> Carl Sandburg: A Biography <>
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“Niven complements her own clear, lyrical voice with the eloquent words of Steichens contemporaries.” < i=""> New York Times Book Review <> on < i=""> Steichen: A Biography <>
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“Almost everybody knows OUR TOWN, but very few people really know Thornton Wilder. Penelope Nivens fascinating biography changes that once and for all…Meticulously researched, Nivens book reads like a riveting novel.” < b=""> & #151;James Earl Jones <>
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“This new biography of Wilder -- comprehensive and wisely fashioned -- gives us sufficient view of his methods, his public and private life, and the reaches of his mind…This book is a splendid and long needed work.” < b=""> & #151;Edward Albee <>
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“The author admits to a ‘decade of close study of . . . primary sources in preparation for her biography of distinguished American novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder. The result, fully displayed on every page of this definitive treatment, is a joyous presentation of detail.” Booklist (starred review)
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“Fast-paced and engaging, this work is essential for academic readers with an interest in American literature and culture. It will also appeal to the more general reader of American biography.” Library Journal (starred review)
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“Lucid, elegantly written...there is just enough shrewd literary analysis to make us understand why this prodigally gifted writer so richly deserves an audience beyond the 12th grade.” Daily Beast
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“Capacious and authoritative.” Harper's Magazine
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“Deeply researched and fluidly readable.” New York Times
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“The best kind of literary biography, one likely to send the reader back (or perhaps for the first time) to the authors works.” Washington Post
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“Essential. . . . Studiously researched and measured. . . . The great strength of ‘Thornton Wilder: A Life is how well it fuses the early years of the Wilder biography with the themes that informed his works.” Chicago Tribune
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"Shillinglaw contends the Pulitzer Prizeand#150;winning Grapes of Wrath is their 'shared creation.' She argues that Carol was a much larger influence on the novelistand#8217;s life and work than has been previously acknowledged. In this lively, absorbing biography, she describes Johnand#8217;s and Caroland#8217;s families, the impact of friends and travel, and the creative process that culminated in Johnand#8217;s writing. Carol left few written records or letters, thus her life is portrayed here from previously unavailable scrapbooks, photographs, and poetry. . . . Recommended for Steinbeck enthusiasts as well as readers interested in 20th-century American novelists." Library Journal, Nov. 13, 2013
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"Impressive . . . Shillinglaw writes with eloquence and grace. . . . Carol Steinbeck . . . has been blessed with a terrific biographer." Publishers Weekly
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"Scholars and fans of John Steinbeck are fortunate to have two fine biographies availableand#151;Jackson Bensonand#8217;s (1990) and Jay Pariniand#8217;s (1995). . . .and#160; And now another indispensable source can be placed beside these classics, Susan Shillinglawand#8217;s Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage published by the University of Nevada Press." -- Tom Barden, The Steinbeck Review, Fall 2013
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"Nobody knows more or writes better about the life of Steinbeck than Susan Shillinglaw . . . Her superb scholarship and elegant style are equally evident in Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage, the biography of Steinbeck?s marriage to Carol Henning, a Jazz Age rebel with a Great Depression conscience. As Shillinglaw observes, John and Carol were no Scott and Zelda. But their dramatic story book reads like a novel -- unfortunately, one with a similarly unhappy ending." William Ray, Steinbeck Now
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and#147;A fascinating story that needs to be made known widely . . . Not just the story of Carol and her relationship to John, but a new and revealing look at Steinbeck himself. So much is new here, and the manuscript pushes so deep into the lives of the Steinbecks, that it might well become the primary biography of that period.and#8221; --Jackson Benson, author of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography
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"Shillinglaw's primary research makes this book impressive, and her writing is wonderfully clear and effective. A book that will appeal both to sophisticated scholars and the general public. I loved this book!" Melody Graulich, editor of Western American Literature
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"Fascinating as it lays open the background of two intriguing personalities" New York Journal of Books
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"Shillinglaw -- resident scholar at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas and professor of English at San Jose State -- draws a compelling portrait of this intelligent modern woman."
San Jose Mercury News
"The Grapes of Wrath grabs the reader with a singular energy that makes it easy to miss the dedication: 'To CAROL who willed this book.' The Carol in caps is Carol Steinbeck, who not only picked the title, but also rode herd on the manuscript, the research and the hard years of creation in a rare kind of artistic synergy. . . . . In Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage, Susan Shillinglaw fleshes out the bookand#8217;s dedication and gives Carol Henning Steinbeck her full due. This strong-willed, opinionated, forceful, sharp-witted woman was more than just a supportive wife, more than a repressed Zelda Fitzgerald: 'Her story is, in effect, his. His greatest triumph, hers,' Shillinglaw argues." Michael S. Gant, SantaCruz.com
"As biographer Susan Shillinglaw reminds us in her insightful, important, and necessary new work, there was a time when the man who wrote The Grapes of Wrath was a mere struggling writer; an acknowledged talent, yes, but always on the edge of failure with an uncertain future. Thus we have Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage. And in this new book, Shillinglaw makes a powerful case for the idea that Steinbeckand#8217;s first wife had everything to do with his ability to persevere, to create a body of work that drew notice to his burgeoning talent, and to carry on despite all the pressures (fiscal, psychological, and otherwise) that plague serious writers attempting to emerge. . . . This wonderful new biography offers plenty of echoes of Steinbeck, but its real value is in restoring to memory the voice, style, and persona of Carol Henning Steinbeck." M. J. Moore in Neworld Review, vol. 7 no. 48
"A combination of biography, history, psychology and literary observation, this reads, too, like a novel. Be assured that you will want to read again the Steinbeck that you remember as well as his work that you missed. You will wish you had known Carol Henning, but reading this, you will possibly consider her now a friend." Phil Bowhay, Monterey County Herald
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Synopsis
"
Thornton Wilder: A Life brings readers face to face with the extraordinary man who made words come alive around the world, on the stage and on the page."
—James Earl Jones, actor
"Comprehensive and wisely fashioned….This book is a splendid and long needed work."
—Edward Albee, playwright
Thornton Wilder—three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, creator of such enduring stage works as Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and beloved novels like Bridge of San Luis Ray and Theophilus North—was much more than a pivotal figure in twentieth century American theater and literature. He was a world-traveler, a student, a teacher, a soldier, an actor, a son, a brother, and a complex, intensely private man who kept his personal life a secret. In Thornton Wilder: A Life, author Penelope Niven pulls back the curtain to present a fascinating, three-dimensional portrait one of America's greatest playwrights, novelists, and literary icons.
Synopsis
In Steinbeckandrsquo;s formative years, she was his mainstay, his partner, his inspirationand#160;
Synopsis
Carol Henning Steinbeck, writer John Steinbeckandrsquo;s first wife, was his creative anchor, the inspiration for his great work of the 1930s, culminating in The Grapes of Wrath. Meeting at Lake Tahoe in 1928, their attachment was immediate, their personalities meshing in creative synergy. Carol was unconventional, artistic, and compelling. In the formative years of Steinbeckandrsquo;s career, living in San Francisco, Pacific Grove, Los Gatos, and Monterey, their Modernist circle included Ed Ricketts, Joseph Campbell, and Lincoln Steffens. In many ways Carolandrsquo;s story is all too familiar: a creative and intelligent woman subsumes her own life and work into that of her husband. Together, they brought forth one of the enduring novels of the 20th century.and#160;
About the Author
Penelope Niven is the author of critically acclaimed biographies of poet Carl Sandburg and photographer Edward Steichen, as well as Swimming Lessons, a memoir, and Voices and Silences, coauthored with the actor James Earl Jones. She is the recipient of three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Thornton Wilder Visiting Fellowship at the Beinecke Library at Yale, and other fellowships and awards.