Biofiction: An Introduction provides readers with the history, origins, evolution, and legitimization of biofiction, suggesting potential lines of inquiry, exploring criticisms of the literary form, and modeling the process of analyzing and interpreting individual texts. Written for undergraduate and graduate students, this volume combines comprehensive coverage of the core foundations of biofiction with contemporary and lively debates within the subject. The volume aims to confro...

Shows how after the Nazis came to power, prominent exile writers used biofiction to provide readers with a means of identifying root causes of political oppression.There were biofictions before the 20th century, but the literary form surged in the 1930s, especially among writers who fled Europe to escape the Nazis. What would be the best way to challenge and counteract the Nazis' oppressive political agenda? This was a question those writers sought to answer. And a...

Biofiction is literature that names its protagonist after an actual historical figure, and it has become a dominant literary form over the last 35 years. What has not yet been scholarly acknowledged or documented is that the Irish played a crucial role in the origins, evolution, rise, and now dominance of biofiction.Michael Lackey first examines the groundbreaking biofictions that Oscar Wilde and George Moore authored in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as the best bi...

Before the 1970s, there were only a few acclaimed biographical novels. But starting in the 1980s, there was a veritable explosion of this genre of fiction, leading to the publication of spectacular biographical novels about figures as varied as Abraham Lincoln, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Henry James, and Marilyn Monroe, just to mention a notable few. This publication frenzy culminated in 1999 when two biographical novels (Michael Cunningham's...

In this new collection of interviews, some of America's most prominent novelists identify the key intellectual developments that led to the rise of the contemporary biographical novel, discuss the kind of historical 'truth' this novel communicates, indicate why this narrative form is superior to the traditional historical novel, and reflect on the ideas and characters central to their individual works.These interviews do more than just define an innovative genre of contemporary fic...

Steve Gillon follows Lee Harvey Oswald for the 48 hours after the Kennedy assassination in search of answers to the question that has been troubling America for the past five decades: Why did he shoot JFK? The Warren Commission speculated that Oswald was simply a deranged sociopath. But recently declassified materials raise new troubling questions. Where was Oswald going when he fled the School Book Depository Building on Friday afternoon? Is it possible that Cuban intelligence officials m...

A controversial figure in his day, Black Hawk was the leader of the Sauk American Indian tribe in the early 1800s. The son of the tribe's medicine man, Black Hawk's exploits as a warrior aided his rise to the status of tribal war leader. Here, Black Hawk chronicles his life as well as the story of his tribe, who were forced from their lands in Illinois during a series of skirmishes with American settlers in what came to be known as the Black Hawk War.

Billy Budd: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! In 1797, young Billy Budd is impressed into naval service. It is a perilous time for a British Royal Navy still reeling from mutinies and marauding French ships. When Billy is forcibly transferred to HMS Bellipotent, he evokes the wrath of John Claggart, the ship's Master-at-arms. Claggart falsely accuses Billy of conspiracy to mutiny, a charge that will have a profound effect on the ...

Dan Harland was a legend. A hired gun, Harland had earned a reputation as one of the fastest gunslingers in the West. He didn't like to kill, but he did it with deadly accuracy. The money wasn't too bad, either. However, when he is hired to kill a man who is seemingly all too ready to die, Harland begins to have second thoughts about his occupation and seeks out the shadowy figure who hired him.

In 1871 Utah, young Jane Withersteen is courted by Elder Tull, the leader of her polygamous Mormon church. When Jane refuses, the local Mormons persecute her. Meanwhile, Jane's friend, Bern Venters, is captured by Tull's posse and faces a harsh sentence. Jane defends him, causing even more friction with the Mormon populace. Enter Lassiter, a friend to Venters and an infamous gunslinger. His appearance causes Tull and his men to release Venters and flee - sparking a conflict that leaves Jan...

In Manhattan, an elderly lawyer's business is growing. Having two scriveners in his employ, the lawyer advertises for a third to meet demand. Enter Bartleby, a glum albeit quality scrivener. However, the lawyer quickly discovers that something is off with his new employee. When asked to perform any duties outside of copywriting, Bartleby responds with a canned 'I would prefer not to.' Soon Bartleby is living at the office and performing less and less at work. Finally fed up with his strang...

Written in seclusion following the intense negative public reaction to the publication of his novel Pierre, The Piazza Tales is Melville's accessible and entertaining collection of short stories concerning love, labor and loss. The collection includes the author's three most important achievements in the genre of short fiction, Bartleby, the Scrivener, Benito Cereno, and The Encantadas, his sketches of the Galapagos Islands. Melville had originally intended to entitle the volume Benito Cer...