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Badge of Courage: The Life of Stephen Crane

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Badge of Courage by Linda H. Davis has been an excellent companion of mine in recent days. This is a terrific book that brings to life a Stephen Crane I never knew. He lived his short, dramatic life as bravely and actively as can be imagined. Davis re-creates it all in a vivid, enthralling book that reveals a deep affection for a worthy subject. She also reveals a direct, effective style that adds wonderfully to some already wonderful material. I cannot overstate how much I value this book.

I went into Badge of Courage with little knowledge of Crane other than a distant memory of my reading his works in high school. This biography brought him back to life for me and involved me from the beginning. The life was short but complex, and at times conducted in secret; Davis conveys it all with full, affectionate treatment yet effective economy and punch. I feel as if Stephen Crane has been an enthralling companion in recent days. This feeling is due not only to the drama of the life itself but also to Linda Davis' insightful, compelling presentation of it.

I admit to bias, because I was involved in the research for this book. Nevertheless, Linda Davis has achieved what any good biographer strives to do but few accomplish: she has brought her subject back to life. This is no small feat in the case of Stephen Crane, who has fundamentally eluded all previous biographers, including the poet John Berryman and the detailed but impossible-to-read Stallman. Crane led an adventure-filled life, and was a wonderful and colorful character, as well as a brilliant, pioneering writer. Linda Davis, too, is brilliant, as a biographer; and she's a fine, sometimes breathtakingly good writer. If you read only one biography this year, make it this one. (By the way, Davis was right about Crane being buried in Elizabeth, NJ; it WAS Elizabeth back then.)