{"product_id":"the-life-of-henry-james-a-critical-biography","title":"Life of Henry James","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiscover anew the life and influence of Henry James, part of the acclaimed \u003ci\u003eWiley Blackwell Critical Biographies \u003c\/i\u003eseries.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography\u003c\/i\u003e, Peter Collister, an established critic and authority on Henry James, 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.  \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJames was a dedicated and brilliant letter-writer and his biographer make judicious use of this material, some of it previously unpublished, evoking in the novelist’s own words the society within which he moved and worked. His gift for friendship, often resulting in close relationships with both men and women, are sensitively explored. Near the beginning of his long and highly productive life, James left America to immerse himself in European culture and history – a necessity, he felt, for the developing artist. In an ironic symmetry he witnessed in his youth the effects of the American Civil War and in his last days, finally becoming a British citizen, despaired at the unfolding tragedy of the Great War in Europe. Sustained, nevertheless, by his own creative energy, he never ceased to believe in the capacity of the arts to enhance and give significance to life.     \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProvides well-informed accounts of Henry James’s youth in New York City, his unconventional education, his extensive travel in Europe, his eventual assimilation into British society, his development as a writer and his personal relationships as a single man. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFeatures discussions of James’s major works in a variety of genres from an assured theoretical and historical perspective.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAssesses James’s developing quest for dramatic form in his fiction – the ‘scenic art’ – as well as his critical writing which was to have a lasting influence on the literature and aesthetic values of the twentieth century.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDiscusses his achieved aspiration to be ‘just literary’, to become what he called that ‘queer monster’, an artist.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCharts James’s lifelong interest in art and theatre.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn incisive discussion of the life of an author of major stature, \u003ci\u003eThe Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography\u003c\/i\u003e offers a refreshingly lucid and human account of a novelist and his often challenging, but rewarding, writing. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePeter Collister, a former college Assistant Principal, has published many essays in Europe and America on a range of nineteenth-century British and French authors. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eWriting the Self: Henry James and America \u003c\/i\u003eand later edited for the university presses of Cambridge and Virginia the award-winning volumes: \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Writings of Henry James on Art and Drama, \u003c\/i\u003eJames's autobiographical writings, \u003ci\u003eA Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Middle Years\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as \u003ci\u003eThe American Scene\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54013265641816,"sku":null,"price":50.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781119483076.jpg?v=1778490967","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/the-life-of-henry-james-a-critical-biography","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}