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Carson McCullers

Carlos L. Dews

Illumination And Night Glare: The Unfinished Autobiography Of Carson Mccullers (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography) Paperback – January 4, 2002

by Carson McCullers (Author)

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More than thirty years after it was written, the autobiography of Carson McCullers, Illumination and Night Glare, will be published for the first time. McCullers, one of the most gifted writers of her generation—the author of Member of the Wedding, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and The Ballad of Sad Cafe—died of a stroke at the age of fifty before finishing this, her last manuscript. Editor Carlos L. Dews has faithfully brought her story back to life, complete with never-before-published letters between McCullers and her husband Reeves, and an outline of her most famous novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

Looking back over her life from a precocious childhood in Georgia to her painful decline from a series of crippling strokes, McCullers offers poignant and unabashed remembrances of her early writing success, her family attachments, a troubled marriage to a failed writer, and friendships with literary and film luminaries (Gypsy Rose Lee, Richard Wright, Isak Dinesen, John Huston, Marilyn Monroe), and the intense relationships of the important women in her life.

Print length

258 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date

January 4, 2002
Dimensions

8.68 x 5.96 x 0.7 inches
ISBN-10

0299164446
ISBN-13

978-0299164447
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Illumination and Night Glare is an extraordinary document. Dictated in an idiomatic, associative style, it exposes the doubleness of [Carson] McCullers's life. . . . A rich mine of information for anyone interested in McCullers, and American literary life in the 1950s, these memoirs are also a testament to the courage and sheer love of life of their author."—Richard Gray, Times Literary Supplement

"Though described as an ‘autobiography,’ [Illumination and Night Glare] is rather more of an informal, unselfconscious memoir organized on the principle of association of ideas, not by chronology or theme; it’s touching, conversational, inevitably disjointed. . . . One can see why an editor would want to present the attenuated manuscript for publication, for it is all that remains of the unpublished work."—Joyce Carol Oates, London Review of Books

"The mundane circumstances of [McCullers’s] epiphanies—pacing on her living room rug or going on a brisk walk after a Thanksgiving meal—take on an otherworldly wonder in her hands. . . . McCullers's memoir is a testament to her struggle to write 'in sickness or in health.'"—Catherine Saint Louis, New York Times Book Review

"[Illumination and Night Glare] reveals the woman Gore Vidal once described as a 'vain, querulous . . . genius,' but it also gives evidence of the indomitable spirit that commanded the enduring friendship of Tennessee Williams, John Huston, Edith Sitwell, et al. . . . The volume will be must reading for all students, scholars, and aficionados of McCullers."—Choice

From the Publisher

Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography William L. Andrews, General Editor

Publisher : University of Wisconsin Press (January 4, 2002)
Language : English
Paperback : 258 pages
ISBN-10 : 0299164446
ISBN-13 : 978-0299164447
Item Weight : 11.8 ounces
Dimensions : 8.68 x 5.96 x 0.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #318,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #147 in Women Author Literary Criticism
- #213 in Women Writers in Women Studies
- #811 in American Literature Criticism

Customer Reviews:
7 ratings

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James B. Poppell

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2017

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Outstanding!

Helpful

Knowledge Contagion

Unfinished Indeed ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2013

Had I not read The Lonely Hunter: A Biography of Carson McCullers immediately before reading this, I would have been completely lost. I would like to think that had she lived long enough to finish this, someone could have persuaded her to at least put her musings in some kind of order because it's obvious that she had no clue what "chronological" meant (which is fine - she just proved it in such a way to render fluid, non-confused reading impossible). The editing involved was also a bit irritating because Dews used brackets all over the place to indicate ... something.

I realize this is an unfinished "autobiography" (I think "memoir" would be more appropriate), but I am still going to complain about the fact that she didn't get into why she decided to write this: to tell readers about her experiences with fame and success in the hopes that they won't make the mistakes she did.

I love to read other people's letters, but I did not find myself enjoying the ones included. I realize they were in love with each other again and missed each other, but I still found them repetitive and monotonous for the most part.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

cynicalgirl

This should never have been published

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2008

Not long before her death, Carson McCullers dictated some disjointed, random recollections to a secretary in an effort to create an autobiography. Very little was accomplished; what she did come up with has been presented in this book as her "unfinished autobiography." Actually it doesn't come close to being an autobiography, "unfinished" or otherwise. It doesn't even seem like the beginnings of one. It really is that unsubstantial.

This book was obviously published in hopes that fans of Carson McCuller's novels and stories will rush out and and buy it. If they do, they're in for a big disappointment; there is nothing very interesting here and McCullers tended to play fast and loose with facts pertaining to events in her life, her relationships with other people and her tortured marriage to Reeves McCullers. She also liked to gloss over the numerous flaws in her own personality; her alcoholism, her overinflated ego, her immaturity, her tendency to suck the life out of people with her unceasing demands for attention and adulation.

The book is padded with dull letters McCullers and her husband sent each other and the outline of a book called "The Mute", which eventually became "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter." It would seem the publishers were willing to fill this slim volume out with anything in order to make this seem like something appropriating a memoir of sorts.

Don't be fooled. This isn't even an "unfinished" autobiography. This should not have even been published. That's how little this odd little book of meandering thoughts is worth.

20 people found this helpful

Helpful

Cami Parsons

Behind the scenes

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2008

I don't know why you'd read this unless you're a McCullers fanatic or you need a reference for a paper, but either way, you are going to be pleasantly surprised. This book takes you behind the scenes of McCullers' life, her thought processes, and her life. And in case you don't know already, she's a very interesting subject. Bisexual and mysterious, she not only experienced pleasure and pain-love and hurt-but also got into a love triangle with her husband. They both loved the same man and wanted him to themselves! You get to read letters that had previously been secret and private and get to hear her motivation and conception of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter from McCullers' own mouth. It's entertaining and informative and when you finish this book you'll have a sense of understanding and intrigue-like you've uncovered a mysterious secret.

15 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Ricky

Carson McCullers' Final- a brief comment from a fan

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

Yeah...it is a very real book. Why? You can track the line of an unfinished project. This is a person writing under duress. She is ill, the words are left in air, so the editor fills in the left bits. You can constantly hear and feel her agony. The pictures are hazy and would be considered below standard today. Why, again? Because, once more, they were taken for personal use. Not for publicity. But as you go along with the narration and photos you realise Carson McCullers was part of a great story, in the middle of history (or herstory) she was around the famous and contemporary of her times: the Marlene Monroe, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, etc. A very real diary. As a fan of her novels, this was a revelation. And tortuous at times. Perhaps i wouldnt want to know too much about the private life of authors. It can be depressing. But alas. Why not? Its all about humanity and our living souls. Thanks for a wonderful record of art and life. Posted quickly and efficiently. Well done Amazon!

9 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

Good!!

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