Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Fromm Intl (1993), 592 pages
Description
A full-scale critical biography of the turn-of-the-century American novelist, detailing the relation between her life and works, assessing her literary dedication and accomplishment, and arguing her place as a writer of the first importance.
User reviews
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
Beginning with Wharton's genealogical background and ending with her funeral R.W.B. Lewis's Edith Wharton: a Biography is at once both extensive and entertaining. Wharton begins her life as Edith "Pussy" Jones, the daughter of a socially well-to-do family. Her life is surrounded by all the things
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the culture of 1870s cherished - multiple family estates, social gatherings with citizens of good standing and trips abroad to places like Italy and France. With access to letters, diaries and manuscripts Lewis is able to give animated details to Wharton's upbringing and subsequent literary career. It is no wonder he won a Pulitzer for his work. It also is easy to see how Wharton was drawn to a writing career when you consider the wealth of influences in that era: Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, William Vaughn Moody, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, and George Eliot to name a few. What is amazing is her inability to stay the course of confidence. The slightest criticism could send her career out of commission for months at a time. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Winner — 1976)
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist — General Nonfiction — 1975)
Bancroft Prize (1976)
Notable Books List (1975)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1975
Physical description
592 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
0880640200 / 9780880640206