A Tragic Honesty

Author: Blake Bailey
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312423759
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 708

Book Description
Celebrated in his prime, forgotten in his final years, only to be championed anew by our greatest contemporary authors, Richard Yates has always exposed readers to the unsettling hypocrisies of our modern age. In Blake Bailey's masterful and entertaining biography, Yates himself serves as the fascinating lens into mid-century America, a world of would-be artists, depressed housewives, addled businessmen, high living, wistful striving, and self-deception. The story of Richard Yates here stands as a singular reminder of what the writer must sacrifice for his craft, the devil's bargain of artistry for happiness, praise for sanity.

Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates

Author: Blake Bailey
Publisher: Turtleback Books
ISBN: 9781417707287
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages :

Liars in Love

Author: Richard Yates
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 1466853697
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
Now available in eBook for the first time, Richard Yates's groundbreaking collection of short fiction. The stories in Liars in Love are concerned with troubled relations and the elusive nature of truth. Whether it be in the depiction of the complications of divorced families, grown-up daughters, estranged sisters, office friendships or fleeting love affairs, the pieces in this collection showcase Richard Yates's extraordinary gift for observation and his understanding of human frailty. In this collection, you'll discover some of the most influential and sharply observed short fiction of the 20th century, and find out why Richard Yates was a true American master.

Farther and Wilder

Author: Blake Bailey
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307475522
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 530

Book Description
Charles Jackson’s novel The Lost Weekend—the story of five disastrous days in the life of an alcoholic—was published in 1944 to triumphant success. Although he tried to escape its legacy, Jackson is often remembered only as the author of this thinly veiled autobiography. In Farther & Wilder, the award-winning biographer of Richard Yates and John Cheever goes deeper, exploring Jackson’s life—from growing up in the scandal-plagued village of Newark, New York, to a career in Hollywood and friendships with everyone from Judy Garland and Billy Wilder to Thomas Mann and Mary McCarthy. This is the fascinating biography of a writer whose life and work encapsulated what it meant to be an addict and a closeted homosexual in mid-century America, and who was far ahead of his time in bringing these forbidden subjects into the popular discourse.

Dismembering the American Dream

Author: Kate Charlton-Jones
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817318259
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
"A detailed study of Yates's novels and stories"-- Provided by publisher.

Cheever

Author: Blake Bailey
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9780330437905
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 820

Book Description
John Cheever was one of the foremost chroniclers of post-war America, a peerless writer who on his death in 1982 left not only some of the best short stories of the twentieth century and a number of highly acclaimed novels, but also a private journal that runs to an astonishing four million words. Cheever’s was a soul in conflictm who hid his troubles - alcoholism, secret bisexuality - behind the screen of genial life in suburbia, but as John Updike came to remark: ‘Only he saw in its cocktail parties and swimming pools the shimmer of dissolving dreams . . .’ Blake Bailey, writing with unprecedented access to the journal and other sources, has brought characteristic eloquence and sensitivity to his interpretation of Cheever’s life and work. This is a luminous biography that reveals – behind the disguises with which he faced the world – a troubled but strangely lovable man, and a writer of timeless fiction. ‘Stunningly detailed . . . Even more eloquent and resourceful than Bailey’s celebrated biography of Richard Yates, A Tragic Honesty . . . Bailey’s interweaving of Cheever’s fiction with his experience is a tour de force’ New York Times Book Review

The Tragedy Test

Author: Richard Agler
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532657943
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Book Description
When tragedy strikes we want to know: Why did this happen? How could it have happened? Where is life's justice and fairness? When tragedy strikes we need to know: What still makes sense. What paths lead to healing. How to deal with the timeless questions. When Rabbi Richard Agler's twenty-six-year-old daughter Talia was struck and killed by a motor vehicle, his understanding of tragedy failed him. This book is an account of a journey, one he had no choice but to take, leading from unimaginable grief to (at least partial) recovery. In clear and compelling language, with references to both ancient and modern sources of wisdom, Rabbi Agler offers insight for everyone who has, or who one day might, experience painful loss. The Tragedy Test may give you enhanced clarity on some of humanity's most profound questions. It may lead you to reimagine the nature of our universe. It may fundamentally challenge your understanding of the God you thought you knew. It will not leave you unmoved or unchanged.

Brutally Honest

Author: Melanie Brown
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
ISBN: 1787133532
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
'Utterly absorbing and deeply affecting' – The Guardian As a Spice Girl, TV talent show judge and Broadway star, Mel B a.k.a Scary Spice, has been a global icon since her twenties. But behind the glittering façade of fame, the struggles and pain of this working-class, mixed-race girl from Leeds are laid bare in her critically acclaimed best-selling memoir, Brutally Honest. With deep personal insight, remarkable frankness and trademark Yorkshire humour, the book tells how she went from Girl Power to girl powerless during her ten-year emotionally abusive marriage. Tracing a path through the key moments in her life, she reflects on her childhood, rise to fame and her chilling downward spiral before she finally broke free. In this expanded edition, written with Louise Gannon, Mel brings her story up to date. With her trademark honesty, she tells the unfiltered story of piecing herself back together, dealing with trauma and new heartbreak whilst becoming a champion for survivors of abuse, performing once more with the Spice Girls and receiving her MBE from Prince William.

Disturbing the Peace

Author: Richard Yates
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1446420663
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
John Wilder is in his mid-thirties, a successful salesman with a place in the country, an adoring wife and a ten-year-old son.But something is wrong. His family no longer interests him, his infidelities are leading him nowhere and he has begun to drink too much. Then one night, something inside John snaps and he calls his wife to tell her that he isn't coming home...

The Easter Parade

Author: Richard Yates
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0099518562
Category : Children of divorced parents
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
Even as little girls, Sarah and Emily are very different from each other. Emily looks up to her wiser and more stable older sister and is jealous of her relationship with their absent father, and later her seemingly golden marriage. The path she chooses for herself is less safe and conventional and her love affairs never really satisfy her. Although the bond between them endures, gradually the distance between the two women grows, until a tragic event throws their relationship into focus one last time.