Looking for Steinbeck's ghost / Jackson J. Benson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Benson, Jackson J.

Series:

Western literature series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968.

Steinbeck, John.

Novelists, American--20th century--Biography.

Novelists, American.

Biography as a literary form.

Benson, Jackson J.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xv, 231 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 21 cm.

Edition:

University of Nevada Press paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

Reno : University of Nevada Press, 2002.

Summary:

In 1968, Jackson J. Benson, then a naive young literature professor, set out to write a critical appraisal of John Steinbeck, a writer who Benson felt was greatly undervalued by the scholarly establishment. To Benson's amazement, he shortly found his project turning into an authorized biography. Looking for Steinbeck's Ghost is Benson's engaging account of his experiences over the fifteen years he devoted to writing that biography. On one level, the book is a rich collection of anecdotes, character sketches, and memories of Steinbeck and the people with whom he shared his life -- wives and children, siblings, friends. On another level, Looking for Steinbeck's Ghost is a fascinating account of the biographer's task, with all its triumphs large and small and its numerous pitfalls and frustrations. We follow Benson as he struggles to master the skills of the biographer to find out just who John Steinbeck was.

Contents:

Prologue: Would You Trust this Man? 3

1 In the Big City 21

2 Losts in High Tech 35

3 The Search for the Early Life 51

4 High Anxiety 65

5 Biographer as Detective 79

6 Gwyn and Kate: Two Women in His Life 95

7 Coping with the Famous 116

8 Fear, Envy, and Loathing 125

9 Looking for Steinbeck's Ghost 145

10 The Joys of Being Threatened 161

11 Pride and Prejudice 182

Epilogue: The Spirit of a Writer 203.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

087417497X

OCLC:

49397630