BookTalk.org

When people ask me for books they should read, I mention the name Maxwell Perkins. He was an editor who worked for Scribner's. He was F. Scott Fitzgerald's editor, Ernest Hemingway's, and Thomas Wolfe's. Those three writers are a big part of the heart of American fiction. Look at Perkins' career write-up on Wikileaks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Perkins

Shaping Thomas Wolfe's effulgence into those juggernaut novels was a nice piece of work. And then there's Hemingway, Fitzgerald and others.

So that's what I recommend to people wanting a "list" to read...Maxwell Perkins.

Anybody do anything similar?

Thanks, it is very interesting to see that only when an editor takes a personal interest can great talents like FitzGerald and Hemingway see the light of day for a mass audience. You meant Wikipedia.

lol. Yeah, Wikipedia. Well spotted. You have the eye of an editor. Thanks.

The movie "Genius" was very good on Maxwell Perkins. It focused more on Thomas Wolfe, but I thought Colin Firth gave Perkins a very human portrayal. Looking that name up on Wikipedia I also found there was a movie about his relationship with Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who wrote the much beloved story "The Yearling." What a life, to interact so richly with a range of such interesting people.

Cross Creek was a movie about Rawlings. I saw it a long time ago and remember thinking it was pretty good. Malcolm McDowell played Perkins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Creek_(film)

Years ago I read Thomas Wolfe's four novels and then one of the biographies about him. His mother was the family historian and told her son stories. Later, Wolfe tended to write in iambic pentameter. Speculation was that he got the rhythm from his mom, who told her stories from her rocking chair. Later in his writing career, when he could afford an assistant, Wolfe would pace while he dictated, and the prose would come out in pentameter that matched his pacing.

I saw "Genius" (via DVD) a few months ago. Well produced, well acted. I enjoyed it.