Max Perkins: Editor of Genius
Max Perkins once wrote to Thomas Wolfe that "[t]here could be nothing so important as a book can be." Perkins lived and died believing this, as A. Scott Berg attests with his book, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. Berg's book begins by describing a rainy evening in mid-Manhattan where a class of budding editors and publishers awaits the infamous Maxwell Perkins for a discussion on editing. Here Berg reveals Perkins as "unlikely for his profession: he was a terrible speller, his punctuation was idiosyncratic," and he was an awfully slow reader by his own admission (4). But none came near Perkins's "record for finding gifted authors and getting them into print"(4). Perkins defines editing to the enthusiastic class, not as being a great speller or grammarian, but as knowing "what to publish, how to get it, and what to do to help it achieve the largest readership"(4). This introduction leads the reader into a long flashback of Perkins's life as an editor, the risks he took with books by new talents and the undying support he gave artists, proving Perkins to be "America's greatest editor."
Max Perkins is basically structured sequentially and intertwines Perkins's dealings with manuscripts, Charles Scribner's Sons-- Publishers and Booksellers, authors and their personal as well as artistic lives, and some of what went on in Perkins's personal life. Berg describes how Perkins mingled with artists at work and at home; his wife, Louise was an actress as well as an author of children's books. The Perkinses hosted dinner parties that included authors such as Thomas Wolfe and F. Scott Fitzgerald as well as attended social functions where writers gathered. Max Perkins hardly vacationed during his life, but surprisingly visited Ernest Hemingway several times in Key West or Arkansas to fish and hunt. If he wasn't dealing with writers or their manuscripts in one respect or another, he talked about writing where ever he went "as though it were the most important subject in the world," he read obsessively in his free time, even reading to his daughters every night. Max Perkins briefly, though often enough, mentions Perkins's family life; his five daughters were very important to him-- the only reason he would ever leave work early or even at the typical five o'clock hour would be to spend time with them.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd Ed. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.
Did you know that it wasn’t until 19__ until an Australian Aboriginal graduated university? Well it was and that person was Charles Perkins.
On December 10, 1950, in Stockholm, Sweden, one of the greatest literary minds of the twentieth century, William Faulkner, presented his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize. If one reads in between the lines of this acceptance speech, they can detect a certain message – more of a cry or plead – aimed directly to adolescent authors and writers, and that message is to be the voice of your own generation; write about things with true importance. This also means that authors should include heart, soul, spirit, and raw, truthful emotion into their writing. “Love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice” (Faulkner) should all be frequently embraced – it is the duty of authors to do so. If these young and adolescent authors ignore this message and duty, the already endangered state of literature will continue to diminish until its unfortunate extinction.
Levine, Philip. ”What Work Is.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print.
After publishing her first book, Woods gained a new sense of respect for authors. “I realized firsthand the blood, sweat, and tears that go into publishing. So anyone who has done it is an inspiration.”
Unbeknownst to the literary world, a future great American novelist, Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896. As an intellectual young man with great ambition, F. Scott Fitzgerald attended Princeton in the fall of 1913 with great hopes of fulfilling his dream to become a writer (“F. Scott Fitzgerald – Bio”, 2015). Unfortunately, Fitzgerald did not find much success at Princeton, was put on academic probation, and in 1917 left the school and enlisted himself into the U.S Army. During his time spent on base in Alabama, Fitzgerald met a woman, Zelda Sayre, and fell in love. Following his discharge at the end of the war, Fitzgerald and Zelda moved to Great Neck, New York on Long Island to pursue his literary aspirations
Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois on July 21st, 1899 to his parents, Clarence and Grace Hemingway. His family was wealthy, and would eventually move to a much bigger house with a music studio and a medical office to accommodate their occupational needs. His relationship with his mother was rocky at best, and he complained of her persistence in making him play the cello. In a book written by his sister, she reported that Grace had been obsessed with having twin girls, and had gone as far to dress young Ernest in girl’s clothing and call him “Ernestine”. This went on until he was six years old, and may explain his continuous focus on appearing masculine later in life. His relationship with his mother would set the tone for his future interactions women. He was brought up a man’s man, his father teaching him to hunt, camp, and fish from the very young age of four years old. These summer retreats would take place at his family’s summer home on Lake Walloon in Michigan. Spending much of his time outdoors as a boy instilled in him a great affinity for nature and sporting. At Oak Park and River Forest High School, he was very involved in sports and did w...
At that time, I had been generally acknowledged for several years as the top American writer both seriously and, as far as prices went, popularly. I...was confidant to the point of conceit. Hollywood made a big fuss over us and the ladies all looked very beautiful to a man of thirty. I honestly believed that with no effort on my part I was a sort of magician with words...Total result - a great time and no work. I was to be paid only a small amount unless they made my picture - they didn't. (Mizener 205)
Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in a small community of Oak Park, Illinois. He was the second child out of six, with four sisters and one brother. The area Ernest grew up in was a very conservative area of Illinois and was raised with values of strong religion, hard work, physical fitness and self-determination. His household was a very strict one that didn’t allow any enjoyment on Sundays and disobedience was strictly punished. Ernest’s father taught him good morals and values that he if he followed that he would be good in life. His father also taught him to hunt and fish around the Lake Michigan area and to love nature. The family would spend their summers in the wilderness and their winters back near Chicago. For the rest of his life Hemingway remained an avid fisherman and never lived far form a fishing hole. The outdoors is where he created a lot of his work, and a place where he got a lot of his inspiration from.
Anybody can write a book, but only a select few can write an amazing literary work. One of the greatest aspects
In William Faulkner’s “Speech Accepting the Nobel Prize in Literature,” he asserted, “It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past” (Faulkner). Humans, by nature, are capable of achieving the unimaginable. However, individuals often do not believe very strongly in this ability. While they possess the potential, many people do not have enough determination to reach toward their goals and “not merely endure: prevail” (Faulkner). As expressed by Faulkner, writers hold the duty to motivate their readers in an optimistic way. Although many individuals believe that the “writer’s duty” is primarily
and Other Greats : Lessons from the All-star Writer's Workshop. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.
In a great essence, John Green changed the way authors are respected in the game of writing. He managed to stabilize his popularity, capture the hearts of fans from every background, and deliver influential works of literature that top standardized goals today. Whether it be helping charities with web projects or swaying minds, Green’s inspiration continually effects the 20th century’s today.
Gilbert, Sarah M. and Gubar, Susan. "From the Infection in the Sentence: The Woman Writer and the Anxiety of Authorship." The Critical Condition: Classic Texts andContemporary Trends. Ed. David H. Richter. Boston: Bedford Books, 1998. 1361-74.
“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write because there is some lie I want to expose and some fact I want to draw attention to…”