Thomas Wolfe: An Illustrated Biography [Paperback]

Ted Mitchell (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

Literary critics ranked him with Dickens, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Melville. His vibrant autobiographical novels Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River won Thomas Wolfe the admiration of his peers, and writers as various as Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer, and Kurt Vonnegut have acknowledged a debt to him.

With extracts from his personal papers as well as trenchant reviews of his work and cogent assessments of his genius, this handsomely illustrated volume poignantly recounts the course of Wolfe's career and bolsters his literary reputation.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In his introduction to the pictorial biography, Mitchell points out that in the 69 years since Wolfe's death, his reputation as a major American writer has suffered a decline, yet his books, especially Look Homeward, Angel, continue to be printed and read. Mitchell provides extracts from Wolfe's personal papers--correspondence, manuscripts, and notebooks--to document the course of his career and literary reputation. He begins with the period between 1900 and 1916 in Asheville, North Carolina, recounting Wolfe's birth, home, and family. Mitchell then chronicles the writer's college days and his apprenticeship as a playwright, from 1916 to 1924. There are chapters describing his work--Look Homeward, Angel; Of Time and the River; From Death to Morning; and The Story of a Novel. Mitchell also discusses Wolfe's break with Scribner, his death and posthumous publications, and his reputation.

George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Ted Mitchell, one of the leading scholars on Thomas Wolfe, is a director of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville, North Carolina, where he lives.

Product Details

• Paperback: 341 pages
• Publisher: Pegasus Books (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933648104
• ISBN-13: 978-1933648101
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #809,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid New Wolfe Book!!, February 24, 2007

By 

George K. Dilworth - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Thomas Wolfe: An Illustrated Biography (Paperback)

For Thomas Wolfe fans, this new illustrated biography is absolutely delicious. Mitchell is to be congratulated on his excellent work and it will certainly be appreciated by all Wolfe lovers. Mitchell is contributing to a more than worthy cause - keeping this exquisite author in the public eye. Three cheers!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive book for those curious about this great American Author, November 29, 2011

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Si Tanka (Callie) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Thomas Wolfe: An Illustrated Biography (Paperback)

My daughter was invited to apply for a scholarship to Chapel Hill for the "Thomas Wolfe Scholarship" I must confess that I was ignorant of Mr. Wolfe's work and thought that the scholarship was in the name of Tom Wolfe. I wanted to find out more about Thomas Wolfe and was delighted to find that this book was a exhaustive as the work of the author. However, this book, unlike most of Thomas' work was completely focused, extremely well documented, and supported by photographs, newspaper clippings, manuscript scans, and reviews (both positive and negative) of Mr. Wolfe's life and work. Each of the works published during Mr. Wolfe's all too short life are extensively documented both in Mr. Wolfe's creative process and society's response to his works. Wolfe was so Joycean in his approach that it is easy to see how his work pre-figured the writings of the Beat generation. For those who are merely curious about Wolfe's work yet not ready to tackle his incredibly long, and some would say, disorganized, novels, this biography is a highly engaging look that provides so much insight into the man and his work that you may find yourself drawn into wanting reading some of the author's works. If you are already a fan and do not have this book, your bookshelf has a gaping hole waiting to be filled by this amazing book. The book, which is almost as long as some of Wolfe's publications provides generous quotes of his works and extensive history of his life and creative process. While reading this, I found myself feeling that I truly knew and understood this man. This is also an awesome book for those interested in the craft of writing, American thought and culture, and the post slavery and pre-civil rights era in the South.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ted Mitchell served his subject well., May 25, 2011

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sherrie myers - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Thomas Wolfe: An Illustrated Biography (Paperback)

This book was especially touching in that it showed me the close bond between Thomas Wolfe and Maxwell Perkins. I shed a few tears in reading a long letter he wrote to Maxwell Perkins expressing his disillusionment and hurt feelings over the sequence of certain events in his publishing life and the reply that Mr. Perkins gave to Mr. Wolfe was as a loving patient father to a son. I am so glad that Thomas's final letter was to Mr. Perkins and that it expressed the love and close bond that he obviously felt toward him.