The Impossible Craft : : Literary Biography / / Scott Donaldson.
In The Impossible Craft, Scott Donaldson explores the rocky territory of literary biography, the most difficult that biographers try to navigate. Writers are accustomed to controlling the narrative, and notoriously opposed to allowing intruders on their turf. They make bonfires of their papers, enco...
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Superior document: | Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 |
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Place / Publishing House: | University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [2021] ©2015 |
Year of Publication: | 2021 |
Language: | English |
Series: | Penn State Series in the History of the Book
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Physical Description: | 1 online resource (296 p.) |
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Donaldson, Scott, author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / Scott Donaldson. University Park, PA : Penn State University Press, [2021] ©2015 1 online resource (296 p.) text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda Penn State Series in the History of the Book Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- 1 Beginnings -- 2 Topics in literary biography -- 3 The impossible craft -- 4 Case studies -- 5 The Cheever Misadventure -- Bibliography -- Index restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec online access with authorization star In The Impossible Craft, Scott Donaldson explores the rocky territory of literary biography, the most difficult that biographers try to navigate. Writers are accustomed to controlling the narrative, and notoriously opposed to allowing intruders on their turf. They make bonfires of their papers, encourage others to destroy correspondence, write their own autobiographies, and appoint family or friends to protect their reputations as official biographers. Thomas Hardy went so far as to compose his own life story to be published after his death, while falsely assigning authorship to his widow. After a brief background sketch of the history of biography from Greco-Roman times to the present, Donaldson recounts his experiences in writing biographies of a broad range of twentieth-century American writers: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Cheever, Archibald MacLeish, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Winfield Townley Scott, and Charlie Fenton. Donaldson provides readers with a highly readable insiders' introduction to literary biography. He suggests how to conduct interviews, and what not to do during the process. He offers sound advice about how closely biographers should identify with their subjects. He examines the ethical obligations of the biographer, who must aim for the truth without unduly or unnecessarily causing discomfort or worse to survivors. He shows us why and how misinformation comes into existence and tends to persist over time. He describes "the mythical ideal biographer," an imaginary creature of universal intelligence and myriad talents beyond the reach of any single human being. And he suggests how its very impossibility makes the goal of writing a biography that captures the personality of an author a challenge well worth pursuing. Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. In English. Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Mai 2022) Authors Biography Authorship. Authors, American Biography History and criticism Theory, etc. Biographers. Biography as a literary form. LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Publishing. bisacsh Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 9783110745252 https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271067049?locatt=mode:legacy https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780271067049 Cover https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9780271067049/original |
language |
English |
format |
eBook |
author |
Donaldson, Scott, Donaldson, Scott, |
spellingShingle |
Donaldson, Scott, Donaldson, Scott, The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / Penn State Series in the History of the Book Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- 1 Beginnings -- 2 Topics in literary biography -- 3 The impossible craft -- 4 Case studies -- 5 The Cheever Misadventure -- Bibliography -- Index |
author_facet |
Donaldson, Scott, Donaldson, Scott, |
author_variant |
s d sd s d sd |
author_role |
VerfasserIn VerfasserIn |
author_sort |
Donaldson, Scott, |
title |
The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / |
title_sub |
Literary Biography / |
title_full |
The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / Scott Donaldson. |
title_fullStr |
The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / Scott Donaldson. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / Scott Donaldson. |
title_auth |
The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / |
title_alt |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- 1 Beginnings -- 2 Topics in literary biography -- 3 The impossible craft -- 4 Case studies -- 5 The Cheever Misadventure -- Bibliography -- Index |
title_new |
The Impossible Craft : |
title_sort |
the impossible craft : literary biography / |
series |
Penn State Series in the History of the Book |
series2 |
Penn State Series in the History of the Book |
publisher |
Penn State University Press, |
publishDate |
2021 |
physical |
1 online resource (296 p.) |
contents |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- 1 Beginnings -- 2 Topics in literary biography -- 3 The impossible craft -- 4 Case studies -- 5 The Cheever Misadventure -- Bibliography -- Index |
isbn |
9780271067049 9783110745252 |
callnumber-first |
C - Historical Sciences |
callnumber-subject |
CT - Biography |
callnumber-label |
CT21 |
callnumber-sort |
CT 221 D68 42015 |
genre_facet |
Biography |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271067049?locatt=mode:legacy https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780271067049 https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9780271067049/original |
illustrated |
Not Illustrated |
dewey-hundreds |
900 - History & geography |
dewey-tens |
920 - Biography & genealogy |
dewey-ones |
920 - Biography, genealogy & insignia |
dewey-full |
920 |
dewey-sort |
3920 |
dewey-raw |
920 |
dewey-search |
920 |
doi_str_mv |
10.1515/9780271067049?locatt=mode:legacy |
oclc_num |
1253313150 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT donaldsonscott theimpossiblecraftliterarybiography AT donaldsonscott impossiblecraftliterarybiography |
status_str |
n |
ids_txt_mv |
(DE-B1597)584437 (OCoLC)1253313150 |
carrierType_str_mv |
cr |
hierarchy_parent_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 |
is_hierarchy_title |
The Impossible Craft : Literary Biography / |
container_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 |
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1770176125962551296 |
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