{"product_id":"the-life-of-henry-james-isbn-9781119483076","title":"The Life of Henry James","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiscover anew the life and influence of Henry James, part of the acclaimed \u003ci\u003eWiley Blackwell Critical Biographies \u003c\/i\u003eseries.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography\u003c\/i\u003e, Peter Collister, an established critic and authority on Henry James, offers an original and fully documented account of one of America’s finest writers, who was both a creative practitioner and theorist of the novel. In this volume, James’s life in all its personal and cultural richness is examined alongside a detailed scrutiny of his fiction, essays, biographies, autobiographies, travel writing, plays and reviews.  \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJames was a dedicated and brilliant letter-writer and his biographer make judicious use of this material, some of it previously unpublished, evoking in the novelist’s own words the society within which he moved and worked. His gift for friendship, often resulting in close relationships with both men and women, are sensitively explored. Near the beginning of his long and highly productive life, James left America to immerse himself in European culture and history – a necessity, he felt, for the developing artist. In an ironic symmetry he witnessed in his youth the effects of the American Civil War and in his last days, finally becoming a British citizen, despaired at the unfolding tragedy of the Great War in Europe. Sustained, nevertheless, by his own creative energy, he never ceased to believe in the capacity of the arts to enhance and give significance to life.     \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eProvides well-informed accounts of Henry James’s youth in New York City, his unconventional education, his extensive travel in Europe, his eventual assimilation into British society, his development as a writer and his personal relationships as a single man. \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eFeatures discussions of James’s major works in a variety of genres from an assured theoretical and historical perspective.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eAssesses James’s developing quest for dramatic form in his fiction – the ‘scenic art’ – as well as his critical writing which was to have a lasting influence on the literature and aesthetic values of the twentieth century.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eDiscusses his achieved aspiration to be ‘just literary’, to become what he called that ‘queer monster’, an artist.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eCharts James’s lifelong interest in art and theatre.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn incisive discussion of the life of an author of major stature, \u003ci\u003eThe Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography\u003c\/i\u003e offers a refreshingly lucid and human account of a novelist and his often challenging, but rewarding, writing. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePeter Collister, a former college Assistant Principal, has published many essays in Europe and America on a range of nineteenth-century British and French authors. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eWriting the Self: Henry James and America \u003c\/i\u003eand later edited for the university presses of Cambridge and Virginia the award-winning volumes: \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Writings of Henry James on Art and Drama, \u003c\/i\u003eJames's autobiographical writings, \u003ci\u003eA Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Middle Years\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as \u003ci\u003eThe American Scene\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments ix\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNote on the text xi\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAbbreviations xii\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePrelude: James and Biography xiv\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I The Early Years 1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 ‘Wondering and Dawdling and Gaping’ in New York City (1843 –1855) 3\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 Europe and Newport: In Search of a ‘Sensuous Education’ (1855 –1861) 26\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 Civil War and ‘a Consecration to Letters’ (1861–1869) 49\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II Independence and Europe 71\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 Italy and the ‘Complex Fate’ of Being an American (1869 –1872) 73\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 Return to Italy and ‘an Incalculable Number of Gathered Impressions’ (1872 –1873) 93\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 Rome and Paris: Roderick Hudson: An Experiment in Journalism (1873 –1876) 110\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 ‘The Wheel of London Life’ and Early Novels (1876 –1879) 134\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 Friendships Begin and End: The Achievement of The Portrait of a Lady (1879–1881) 156\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart III The Lure of the Theatre 181\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 Family Deaths: New Friendships in Europe (1881–1884) 183\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 A Range of Novels: Robert Louis Stevenson and Constance Fenimore Woolson (1885–1887) 209\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 ‘The Sawdust \u0026amp; Orange-peel Phase’ Begins: The Tragic Muse (1887–1891) 229\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 Deaths and Losses: Theatrical Ventures (1891 –1895) 248\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart IV The Later Years 269\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e13 Return to ‘The Sacred Fluid of Fiction’ (1895 –1899) 271\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 A Roman Encounter: ‘Letting Yourself Go’ (1899 –1902) 297\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 ‘Dearly Beloved’ Young Men: The Final Novels (1902 –1904) 323\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 The ‘Agreeable and Absorbing Adventure’ of America: The New York Edition and Last Stories (1904 –1909) 343\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e17 Loss of William, ‘So Shining a Presence’: Autobiographical Writing: The Great War and Death (1909 –1916) 369\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Letter Details 395\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Notes 421\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography 435\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Index 447\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePETER COLLISTER, \u003c\/b\u003ea former college Assistant Principal, has published many essays in Europe and America on a range of nineteenth-century British and French authors. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eWriting the Self: Henry James and America \u003c\/i\u003eand later edited for the university presses of Cambridge and Virginia the award-winning volumes, \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Writings of Henry James on Art and Drama\u003c\/i\u003e, James’s autobiographical writings, \u003ci\u003eA Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Middle Years\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as \u003ci\u003eThe American Scene\u003c\/i\u003e.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBLACKWELL\tCRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography \u003c\/i\u003eoffers an original and fully documented account of one of America’s finest writers who was both a creative practitioner and theorist of the novel. In this volume, James’s life in all its personal and cultural richness is examined alongside a detailed scrutiny of his fiction, essays, biographies, autobiographies, travel writing, plays, and reviews. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJames was a prolific and brilliant correspondent and his biographer combs his letters, some of them previously unpublished, to capture the society in which he played a part. He began life in New York City, receiving a random education as the family moved between America and Europe before he finally settled as an adult in England. James felt this to be a necessary move for a developing artist, that “queer monster”, as he said, and he was quickly assimilated into British society. \u003ci\u003eThe Life of Henry James \u003c\/i\u003eexamines with sensitivity the author’s close relationships with both men and women, whilst also discussing his literary achievement across a range of genres. His fiction was to master the “scenic art” and his critical writing helped shape the literary and aesthetic values of the twentieth century. To his last days he continued to believe in the capacity of the arts to enhance and give significance to life. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn incisive discussion of the life of an author of major stature, \u003ci\u003eThe Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a refreshingly lucid and human account of a novelist and his often challenging but rewarding writing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47990277931237,"sku":"NP9781119483076","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781119483076.jpg?v=1761787171","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-life-of-henry-james-isbn-9781119483076","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}