As for Sinclair Ross / David Stouch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stouck, David, 1940-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ross, Sinclair.

Physical Description:

xv, 353 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2005.

Summary:

Sinclair Ross (1908-1996), best known for his canonical novel As for Me and My House (1941) and for such familiar short stories as 'The Lamp at Noon' and 'The Painted Door,' is an elusive figure in Canadian literature. A master at portraying the hardships and harsh beauty of the Prairies during the Great Depression, Ross nevertheless received only modest attention from the public during his lifetime. His reluctance to give readings or interviews further contributed to this faint public perception of the man.

In As for Sinclair Ross, David Stouck tells the story of a lonely childhood in rural Saskatchewan, of a long and unrewarding career in a bank, and of many failed attempts to be published and to find an audience. The book also tells the story of a man who fell in love with both men and women and who wrote from a position outside any single definition of gender and sexuality.

This biography draws on archival records, and on insights gathered during Stouck's acquaintance with Ross late in his life, to illuminate this difficult author, describing in detail the struggles of a gifted artist living in an inhospitable time and place. Stouck argues that, when Ross was writing about Prairie farmers and small towns, he wanted his readers to see the kind of society they were creating, and to feel uncomfortable with religion as coercive rhetoric, prejudices based on race and ethnicity, and rigid notions of gender. As for Sinclair Ross is the story of a remarkable writer whose works continue to challenge us and are rightly considered classics of Canadian literature.

Contents:

1 Wild Rose 3

2 The Housekeeper's Son 10

3 Bank Clerk 26

4 Musician 42

5 Winnipeg 69

6 Days with Pegasus 92

7 As for Me and My House 107

8 War Years 124

9 Montreal 139

10 The Well 161

11 Whir of Gold 181

12 Tourist 208

13 Sawbones Memorial 219

14 Literary Forefather 242

15 Suicide 262

16 The Order of Canada 276.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references: pages [329] - 336.

ISBN:

0802043887 :

OCLC:

56753276