Author and Agent: Eudora Welty and Diarmuid Russell [Hardcover]

Michael Kreyling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1991

Diarmuid Russell was Eudora Welty's literary agent and her friend for over thirty years. This book, written with an emphasis on their spirited correspondence, shows the professional bond which existed between agent and author, as hertalent took off and flourished. It dwells on the faith he had in her work andthe trust she placed in his judgement. Author Michael Kreyling is a professorof English at Vanderbilt University. Photographs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From his first letter to Welty in 1940 ("an agent is rather a benevolent parasite because authors as a rule make more when they have an agent than they do without one"), agent Russell of Russell and Volkening kept up a dedicated correspondence of more than 30 years' duration with the Southern writer. Drawing on these letters, Vanderbilt University English professor Kreyling chronicles the course of the unusually close and enduring relationship the two enjoyed. From his early unflagging efforts to sell Welty's stories to houses interested only in novels to his later support through a period of chaotic change in the publishing industry, Russell functioned as her literary mentor and business adviser, and was clearly instrumental in bringing the author's work to a larger audience. Although Kreyling's style is merely workmanlike, the book takes a revealing look at the often misunderstood relationship between author and agent. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The 30-year literary relationship between Welty and her agent Russell is here chronicled through use of the letters that frequently passed between the two. The letters reveal an agent who believed in the art and potential of his client and an author who unconditionally trusted the judgment, instincts, and integrity of her agent. Beyond the portrait of an admirable relationship between author and agent, this work provides insight into the publishing world, the early views and prejudices toward short stories and writers from the South, the obstacles to getting published, and the individual struggles and writing habits of Welty. An enjoyable and enlightening contribution to literary history.
-Jeris Cassel, Rutgers Univ. Libs., New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 316 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); 1st edition (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374107270
• ISBN-13: 978-0374107277
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,866,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Personal portrait of Eudora Welty Ever Written, May 10, 1999

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[e-mail] (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Author and Agent: Eudora Welty and Diarmuid Russell (Hardcover)

This is a knockout of a book. This is what readers and fans of the great writers want to know, the author's career history, how they first attracted attention and made literary history. Fascinating insights into Miss Welty's decades long business relationship and friendship with her agent Mr. Russell, touching and beautiful. This is what we want, not some conjecture-ridden tacky piece of slop like Ann Weldron's "biography" of Miss Welty.