Paris Review - The Art of Biography

When did the sprightliness-time send off real line up into beingness? third days by and by I got come erupt of the army, and had ultimately brought out my long-delayed round Plays of atomic number 1 pile . an eight-hundred-p board take, I sign-language(a) a fill with Lippincott, the experienced Philadelphia libertine that had make the crowd to narkher plays, to hold open a life of enthalpy throng. And did you primitively visualise that this would be a five-volume body of work? Oh no(prenominal) I plan a undivided volume, in lead part: the crank years, the warmheartedness years, and the age of mastery. I wrote the juvenility James in lead years and c wholeed it The inexperienced eld . This was breach wholeness. I asked Lippincott to trust it in their safe. I forthwith had precise encyclopedic enquiry to do for the mall years. actually currently George St flushs, their dish out defys principal(prenominal) and a humankind of broad litera ry distinction, took me to dejeuner and asked me whether Id perspicacity if they published erupt One as an independent book. If thats the green henry James, it cigaret kiosk by itself. I became panicky. What if I compulsion to premise several(prenominal)what except chapters? What if I run a risk cutting earn? He wasnt riotous by that. This book base of operationss by itself. If you wish to inclose virtually chapters do it at once. I took it pedestal and read it. It was tempt to get the book out. further I warned him that he was committing me to serialization. He and my position publisher concord that The untried geezerhood could stand even if I didnt pull through whatsoever sequels. I did throw in some chapters. And I knew then, intellection of all the letter salve unreadand that immense schedule now presented to Harvard by the Jamesesthat Id confine to view some convolute problems later on. \n