Description
Book SynopsisCelebrating a writer's writer whose friends and rivals included Katherine Anne Porter, Stephen Spender, and Truman Capote, this definitive biography of William Goyen offers the first complete account of the life and writings of the acclaimed author of T
Trade ReviewMr. Davis has done a great service in recounting the major events of Goyen’s life, and reminding us, along the way, of his remarkable literary achievement. -- Micah Mattix * The Wall Street Journal *
More than three decades after [Goyen's] death, his stubbornness finds its reward in this smart, admiring and attentive biography by Clark Davis. -- Louis Bayard * The New York Times Sunday Book Review *
In this stellar biography, Davis (
After the Whale) deftly examines the life of a complex and overlooked figure in the history of American literature . . . This lively and enlightening biography will resurrect Goyen’s brilliant writing for a new generation of readers. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *
This biography offers a thorough and illuminating grounding. * Kirkus *
By writing a biography that focuses on an author’s work as much as it focuses on his drama-filled biography, Davis has successfully avoided writing a sensationalistic book. As an added benefit, he has avoided speculating about the unknown facts of the life of a man who was 'often sharply protective of his personal information,' who 'worked very hard to maintain control of his image.' * Lambda Literary *
In
It Starts With Trouble, Clark Davis makes the compelling case that William Goyen deserves to be discovered again by American readers. * Dallas Morning News *
Ultimately, what makes
It Starts With Trouble an essential read for anyone interested in literature and art is Davis’s painstaking research combined with the passion and intelligence he brings to his subject, bolstering a compelling case to reclaim Goyen’s place in American letters . . . . Like Goyen, Davis understands what writing is for. He reminds us of the stakes of art, of being an artist. * Los Angeles Review of Books *
Davis is a strong, clear-eyed biographer and an engaging writer, and
It Starts with Trouble will do its job of drawing critical attention back to one of the strangest of Texas’ native sons. -- Amy Gentry * Texas Observer *
An excellent new study of Goyen’s life and work. * Texas Monthly *
Clark Davis has undertaken the challenge of setting William Goyen among his contemporaries, a place where he should have always belonged . . . Exploring the extraordinary life that began in Trinity, Texas,
It Starts With Trouble is a great guide for those wishing to learn more about Charles William Goyen as a writer, a husband, and a human being. * Texas Books in Review *
Davis is uncommonly adept at keeping the narrative of Goyen’s life in East Texas, Taos, New Mexico, Rome, New York, California, Germany, well-paced, while working in sensitive commentary on the art and substance of the writing. . . . [His] life of Goyen may inspire readers to dust off and open the works—among the finest in world fiction. -- David Madden * The Key Reporter *
Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations
Introduction
Prologue: The Drowning
Part I: The House in the Bitterweeds
1. Trinity: 1915–1922
2. Merrill Street: 1923–1931
3. Rice Institute: 1932–1941
Part II: Song of Leaving
4. Ulysses: 1942–1945
5. El Prado: 1945–1948
6. Christopher Icarus: 1948–1950
7. The House of Breath: 1950
8. Marvello: 1950–1953
9. A Farther Country: 1954–1956
10. Blood Kindred: 1957–1962
Part III: The Rider at the Door
11. “A New Life”: 1962–1964
12. A Living Jesus: 1966–1973
13. The Restorer: 1974
14. Precious Door: 1975–1981
15. The Nurseryman: 1976–1982
16. Arcadio: 1983
17. The Wound and the Bow: 1982–1983
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
