The American Isherwood / James J. Berg and Chris Freeman, editors ; foreword by Stephen McCauley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Berg, James J., editor.

Freeman, Chris, 1965- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986--Criticism and interpretation.

Isherwood, Christopher.

Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986.

Homosexuality and literature--United States--History--20th century.

Homosexuality and literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

United States.

History.

Literature and society--United States--History--20th century.

Literature and society.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

xxii, 305 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2015]

Summary:

"Novelist, memoirist, diarist, and gay pioneer Christopher Isherwood left a wealth of writings. Known for his crisp style and his camera-like precision with detail, Isherwood gained fame for his Berlin Stories, which served as source material for the hit stage musical and Academy Award-winning film Cabaret. More recently, his experiences and career in the United States have received increased attention. His novel A Single Man was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film; his long relationship with the artist Don Bachardy, with whom he shared an openly gay lifestyle, was the subject of an award-winning documentary, Chris & Don: A Love Story; and his memoir, Christopher and His Kind, was adapted for the BBC. Isherwood's colorful journeys took him from post-World War I England to Weimar Germany to European exile to Golden Age Hollywood to Los Angeles in the full flower of gay liberation. After the publication of his diaries, which run to more than one million words and span nearly a half century, it is possible to fully assess his influence. This collection of essays considers Isherwood's diaries, his vast personal archive, and his published works and offers a multifaceted appreciation of a writer who spent more than half of his life in southern California. James J. Berg and Chris Freeman have brought together the most informative scholarship of the twenty-first century to illuminate the craft of one of the singular figures of the twentieth century. Isherwood, the American, emerges from the shadow of his English reputation to stake his claim as a significant force in late twentieth-century American culture whose legacy continues in the twenty-first century. Contributors: Joshua Adair, Murray State U; Jamie Carr, Niagara U; Robert L. Caserio, Pennsylvania State U; Niladri Chatterjee, U of Kalyani, India; Lisa Colletta, American U of Rome; Lois Cucullu, U of Minnesota; Mario Faraone; Peter Edgerly Firchow; Rebecca Gordon Stewart; William R. Handley, U of Southern California; Jaime Harker, U of Mississippi; Sara S. Hodson, Huntington Library; Carola M. Kaplan, California State U, Pomona; Benjamin Kohlmann, U of Freiburg, Germany; Victor Marsh, U of Queensland; Tina Mascara; Stephen McCauley; Paul M. McNeil, Columbia U; Guido Santi, College of the Canyons, California; Kyle Stevens, Brandeis U. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I A Single Man and Los Angeles Culture in the 1960s 1

1 A Single Man and the American Maurice / Lois Cucullu Cucullu, Lois 5

2 Labor of Love: Making Chris & Don / Tina Mascara Mascara, Tina, Guido Santi Santi, Guido 25

3 Working through Grief in the Drafts of A Single Man / Carola M. Kaplan Kaplan, Carola M. 37

4 Writing the Unspeakable in A Single Man and Mrs. Dalloway / Jamie Carr Carr, Jamie 49

5 A Whole without Transcendence: Isherwood, Woolf, and the Aesthetics of Connection / William R. Handley Handley, William R. 63

6 Ford Does Isherwood / Kyle Stevens Stevens, Kyle 79

7 A Real Diamond: The Multicultural World of A Single Man / James J. Berg Berg, James J., Chris Freeman Freeman, Chris 95

Part II The Religious Writer 103

8 Isherwood and the Psycho-geography of Home / Victor Marsh Marsh, Victor 107

9 Isherwood and Huxley: The Novel as Mystic Fable / Robert L. Caserio Caserio, Robert L. 121

10 Down Where on a Visit? Isherwood's Mythology of Self / Rebecca Gordon Stewart Stewart, Rebecca Gordon 139

11 A Phone Call by the River / Paul M. McNeil McNeil, Paul M. 155

12 "Give me devotion ... even against my will": Christopher Isherwood and India / Niladri R. Chatterjee Chatterjee, Niladri R. 171

13 Spiritual Searching in Isherwood's Artistic Production / Mario Faraone Faraone, Mario 179

Part III A Writer at Odds With Himself in Cold War America 193

14 Christopher Isherwood and Edward Upward / Benjamin Kohlmann Kohlmann, Benjamin 199

15 Huxley and Isherwood: The California Years / Peter Edgerly Firchow Firchow, Peter Edgerly 215

16 The Celebrity Effect: Isherwood, Hollywood, and the Performance of Self / Lisa Colletta Colletta, Lisa 227

17 A Writer at Work: The Isherwood Archive / Sara S. Hodson Hodson, Sara S. 243

18 Pulp Isherwood: Cheap Paperbacks and Queer Cold War Readers / Jaime Harker Harker, Jaime 259

19 Not Satisfied with the Ending: Connecting The World in the Evening to Maurice / Joshua Adair Adair, Joshua 273.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780816683611

0816683611

9780816683635

0816683638

OCLC:

877364963