July 27, 1916
Novelist and essayist Elizabeth Hardwick is born on this day in 1916 in Lexington, Kentucky.
Hardwick attended the University of Kentucky and later Columbia University in New York. New York's liberal intellectual bent inspired her, and she began contributing perceptive, well-written analytic essays to the Partisan Review. She published her first novel, The Ghostly Lover, in 1945.
In 1949, Hardwick married future Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Lowell, with whom she had a daughter in 1962. Despite Lowell's manic-depression, frequent breakdowns, and heavy drinking, Hardwick stayed with him until he left her in 1972 to marry Lady Caroline Blackwood of England. He later returned to Hardwick, with whom he stayed until he died of a heart attack in 1977.
In the meantime, Hardwick had published a second novel, The Simple Truth (1955), written an essay collection, and edited a volume of William James' letters. She also helped found the New York Review of Books in 1963, to which she was a frequent contributor. Her 1999 book, Sight-Readings, takes a close look at Katherine Anne Porter, Joan Didion, Edith Wharton, TV evangelists, and many other topics.
William Faulkner begins a screenwriting stint - July 26
July 26, 1942
Novelist William Faulkner starts a five-month stint with Warner Brothers on this day.
Faulkner had already published several literary novels, including The Sound and the Fury (1929), Light in August (1932), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936), but his novels were not commercial successes. Faulkner wrote two critically acclaimed films, both starring Humphrey Bogart: To Have and Have Not was based on an Ernest Hemingway novel, and The Big Sleep was based on a mystery by Raymond Chandler.
Screenwriting provided income for many novelists from the 1930s through the 1950s. With the development of talking pictures, starting with The Jazz Singer in 1927, the demand for writers to create convincing movie dialogue and story lines brought many novelists to Hollywood. Other prominent writers who did their time in Hollywood include Raymond Chandler, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, and Nathanael West. West's novel The Day of the Locusts is considered one of the best novels about Hollywood in the '40s.
Novelist William Faulkner starts a five-month stint with Warner Brothers on this day.
Faulkner had already published several literary novels, including The Sound and the Fury (1929), Light in August (1932), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936), but his novels were not commercial successes. Faulkner wrote two critically acclaimed films, both starring Humphrey Bogart: To Have and Have Not was based on an Ernest Hemingway novel, and The Big Sleep was based on a mystery by Raymond Chandler.
Screenwriting provided income for many novelists from the 1930s through the 1950s. With the development of talking pictures, starting with The Jazz Singer in 1927, the demand for writers to create convincing movie dialogue and story lines brought many novelists to Hollywood. Other prominent writers who did their time in Hollywood include Raymond Chandler, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, and Nathanael West. West's novel The Day of the Locusts is considered one of the best novels about Hollywood in the '40s.
Jack London sails for the Klondike - July 25
July 25, 1897
Jack London leaves for the Klondike to join the gold rush, where he will write his first successful stories.
London was born in San Francisco in 1876. His father, an astrologer named Chaney, abandoned the family, and his mother, a spiritualist and music teacher, remarried. Jack assumed his stepfather's last name, London.
From an early age, London struggled to make a living, working in a cannery and as a sailor, oyster pirate, and fish patroller. During the national economic crisis of 1893, he joined a march of unemployed workers. He was jailed for vagrancy for a month, during which time he decided to go to college. The 17-year-old London completed a high school equivalency course and enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley, where he read voraciously for a year. However, he dropped out to join the 1897 gold rush.
While in the Klondike, London began submitting stories to magazines. In 1900, his first collection of stories, The Son of the Wolf, was published. Three years later, his story The Call of the Wild made him famous around the country. London continued to write stories of adventure amid the harsh natural elements. During his 17-year career, he wrote 50 fiction and nonfiction books. He settled in northern California about 1911, having already written most of his best work. London, a heavy drinker, died in 1916.
Jack London leaves for the Klondike to join the gold rush, where he will write his first successful stories.
London was born in San Francisco in 1876. His father, an astrologer named Chaney, abandoned the family, and his mother, a spiritualist and music teacher, remarried. Jack assumed his stepfather's last name, London.
From an early age, London struggled to make a living, working in a cannery and as a sailor, oyster pirate, and fish patroller. During the national economic crisis of 1893, he joined a march of unemployed workers. He was jailed for vagrancy for a month, during which time he decided to go to college. The 17-year-old London completed a high school equivalency course and enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley, where he read voraciously for a year. However, he dropped out to join the 1897 gold rush.
While in the Klondike, London began submitting stories to magazines. In 1900, his first collection of stories, The Son of the Wolf, was published. Three years later, his story The Call of the Wild made him famous around the country. London continued to write stories of adventure amid the harsh natural elements. During his 17-year career, he wrote 50 fiction and nonfiction books. He settled in northern California about 1911, having already written most of his best work. London, a heavy drinker, died in 1916.
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