The Life of Henry James

BLACKWELL CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES

The Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography 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.

James was a prolific and brilliant correspondent and his biographer combs his letters, some of them previously unpublished, to capture the society in which he played a part.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. The Life of Henry James examines 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.

An incisive discussion of the life of an author of major stature, The Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography offers a refreshingly lucid and human account of a novelist and his often challenging but rewarding writing.