A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text
615A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text
615Hardcover(First Edition, First Edition)
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Overview
This volume provides, for the first time, a modern critical edition of Agee's manuscript, a novel based upon his childhood and his attempts to understand the death of his father. The new introduction is a revealing nightmare rather than an idyllic reverie; the book includes ten and one-third previously omitted chapters, substitutes three finished chapters for erroneously printed drafts, and is divided into forty-five chapters rather than twenty; it is chronological and has no flashback chapters; real names of people and places are used, as are more regional speech patterns; and young Rufus (based on young James), his father, and their deep and caring relationship are far more fully developed. All are changes that showcase the intended autobiographical realism of the novel.
This comprehensive edition also provides the reader with an introductory essay, a way to read the McDowell edition from it for purposes of comparison, Agee's draft of his memories of his father's death, unfinished letters to his parents, manuscript variants, and textual notes which document each part of the reconstruction. The edition has received the approval of the Committee on Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.
Wonderfully evocative, this exciting reconstruction of A Death in the Family provides a firmer sense of Agee's achievement as a writer of creative non-fiction and presents his literary genius to a new generation of readers.
Michael A. Lofaro is professor of American literature and American and cultural studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has authored and edited numerous volumes, most recently Agee Agonistes: Essays on the Life, Legend, and Works of James Agee.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781572335943 |
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Publisher: | University of Tennessee Press |
Publication date: | 12/30/2007 |
Series: | Collected Works of James Agee , #1 |
Edition description: | First Edition, First Edition |
Pages: | 615 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.60(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Preface xi
General Textual Method xxiii
A James Agee Chronology xxix
James Agee's A Death in the Family 1
"towards the middle of the twentieth century" 3
"This little boy you live in": Perceptions c. 1911-1912 15
The Surprise: 1912 49
"Enter the Ford": Travel, 1913-1916 83
May 17, 1916: The Day Before 141
Daytime: May 18, 1916 181
Evening: May 18, 1916 203
Morning: May 19, 1916 283
"all the way home": The Last Day 311
Textual Commentary and Notes 357
Major Manuscript Variants 425
Marginal Notes 533
Word Choice Where No Preference Is Indicated 541
Paragraphing 547
Appendices
I How to Read the Corrected McDowell Edition of A Death in the Family from This Text and a Chart of Substantive Corrections to the Library of America Edition of A Death in the Family 549
II A Structural Comparison of the Restored and the McDowell Editions 563
III "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" 565
IV Agee's Memories of His Father's Accident and the Day Before 569
V Unfinished Draft of Agee's Letter to His Father 573
VI Unfinished Draft of Agee's Letter to His Mother 575
VII Letter from Agee's Mother [Mrs. Erskine (Laura Tyler Agee) Wright] Concerning A Death in the Family 577
VIII Outline and Possible Introduction to Agee's Massive Autobiographical Project and the Place of "This book" in It 579