The biographies of two writers who died in 1900 drew my interest more than any other books in The New York Times' fall roundup Friday.
While several of the new novels and non-fiction books appeared mildly appealing, I was intrigued by new biographies of the major 19th century writers Stephen Crane and Oscar Wilde.
Crane, a groundbreaking journalist and author of "The Red Badge of Courage," and Wilde, the noted wit and author of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "The Importance of Being Earnest," both were ahead of their time as writers and pioneers of social freedom.
I was particularly drawn by longtime literary novelist Paul Auster's major biography of Crane, one of my first literary heroes.
Auster in "Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane," to be published Oct. 26, calls the author of "The Red Badge of Courage" and "The Open Boat" America's first modernist, although he never used a telephone or heard a radio.
The author of "The Moon Palace," "The Book of Illusions" and other novels in a distinguished career, Auster seems the perfect guide to Crane, who led a short but adventuresome life before dying of tuberculosis at age 28.
Along with writing the impressionistic masterpiece "Red Badge of Courage," an account of a young soldier's experience during a Civil War battle believed to be Chancellorsville, Crane as a journalist exposed municipal corruption and covered the Spanish-American War. He also was a champion for sexual freedom, exiled from New York City after a feud with city police for defending a prostitute he believed unfairly prosecuted.
Matthew Sturgis's "Oscar Wilde: A Life," earlier published in Europe but arriving in the United States Oct. 12, is the first major biography of the Irish writer in 30 years. Sturgis examined a wealth of new documents, including a full transcript of Wilde's ill-considered libel suit against the Marquis de Queensbury, which led to Wilde's imprisonment for homosexuality.
Crane and Wilde were both 19th century trailblazers. I'm looking forward to rediscovering their luminous lives through Auster and Sturgis' books.
Comments