Shows
New Books in BiographyCarl Rollyson, "The Making of Sylvia Plath (UP Mississippi, 2024)Since her death, Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetry as exemplified by Ariel. Beyond her writing, however, interest in Plath has also been fueled in part by the tragic nature of her death. As a result, a steady stream of biographies of Plath have appeared over the last fifty-five years that mainly focus on her death or contain projections of an array of points of view about the writer.
Until now, little sustained attention has been paid...
2025-10-2255 min
New Books in Popular CultureCarl Rollyson, "The Making of Sylvia Plath (UP Mississippi, 2024)Since her death, Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetry as exemplified by Ariel. Beyond her writing, however, interest in Plath has also been fueled in part by the tragic nature of her death. As a result, a steady stream of biographies of Plath have appeared over the last fifty-five years that mainly focus on her death or contain projections of an array of points of view about the writer.
Until now, little sustained attention has been paid...
2025-10-2155 min
New Books in Women's HistoryCarl Rollyson, "The Making of Sylvia Plath (UP Mississippi, 2024)Since her death, Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetry as exemplified by Ariel. Beyond her writing, however, interest in Plath has also been fueled in part by the tragic nature of her death. As a result, a steady stream of biographies of Plath have appeared over the last fifty-five years that mainly focus on her death or contain projections of an array of points of view about the writer.
Until now, little sustained attention has been paid...
2025-10-2155 min
New Books in Literary StudiesCarl Rollyson, "The Making of Sylvia Plath (UP Mississippi, 2024)Since her death, Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetry as exemplified by Ariel. Beyond her writing, however, interest in Plath has also been fueled in part by the tragic nature of her death. As a result, a steady stream of biographies of Plath have appeared over the last fifty-five years that mainly focus on her death or contain projections of an array of points of view about the writer.
Until now, little sustained attention has been paid...
2025-10-2155 min
The History of Literature691 The Making of Sylvia Plath (with Carl Rollyson) | My Last Book with Cheryl HopsonSince her death, poet and novelist Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) has been an endless source of fascination for fans of her and her work. But while much attention has been paid to her tumultuous relationship with fellow poet Ted Hughes, we often overlook the influences that formed her, long before she traveled to England and met Hughes. What movies did she watch? Which books did she read? How did media shape her worldview? In this episode, Jacke talks to serial biographer Carl Rollyson about his new book The Making of Sylvia Plath, which takes a fresh approach to understanding Plath...
2025-03-311h 01New Books in Literary StudiesCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934" (UVA Press, 2020)As a novelist, short story author, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate, William Faulkner looms large in modern American literature. Yet the very range of his work and the sources for his rich literary worlds often defy easy assessment. In The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), Carl Rollyson uses both an extensive range of archival collections and Faulkner’s wide-ranging literary output to assess the author’s life and the development of his many famous works. Growing up in Mississippi, young William absorbed his family’s tales and the larger history of the re...
2025-01-021h 02
New Books in the American SouthCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934" (UVA Press, 2020)As a novelist, short story author, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate, William Faulkner looms large in modern American literature. Yet the very range of his work and the sources for his rich literary worlds often defy easy assessment. In The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), Carl Rollyson uses both an extensive range of archival collections and Faulkner’s wide-ranging literary output to assess the author’s life and the development of his many famous works. Growing up in Mississippi, young William absorbed his family’s tales and the larger history of the re...
2025-01-0259 min
New Books in American StudiesCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934" (UVA Press, 2020)As a novelist, short story author, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate, William Faulkner looms large in modern American literature. Yet the very range of his work and the sources for his rich literary worlds often defy easy assessment. In The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), Carl Rollyson uses both an extensive range of archival collections and Faulkner’s wide-ranging literary output to assess the author’s life and the development of his many famous works. Growing up in Mississippi, young William absorbed his family’s tales and the larger history of the re...
2025-01-021h 02New Books in BiographyCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934" (UVA Press, 2020)As a novelist, short story author, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate, William Faulkner looms large in modern American literature. Yet the very range of his work and the sources for his rich literary worlds often defy easy assessment. In The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), Carl Rollyson uses both an extensive range of archival collections and Faulkner’s wide-ranging literary output to assess the author’s life and the development of his many famous works. Growing up in Mississippi, young William absorbed his family’s tales and the larger history of the re...
2025-01-021h 02
The Learning CurveCUNY’s Carl Rollyson on William Faulkner & Southern LiteratureThis week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Carl Rollyson, CUNY professor, and acclaimed biographer of William Faulkner. Prof. Rollyson offers an in-depth exploration of Faulkner’s life, work, and enduring legacy. He discusses Faulkner’s formative years in early 20th-century Mississippi a region still grappling with its post-Civil War identity, and his early literary influences, including mentorship by Phil Stone and encounters with literary greats like Sherwood Anderson. Rollyson delves into Faulkner’s tumultuous personal life, his complex marriage to his wife Estell...
2024-11-2047 min
Biographers in ConversationCarl Rollyson: The Life of William FaulknerIn this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Gabriella chats with veteran biographer Carl Rollyson about his two-volume biography of William Faulkner, a giant of 20th century literature who won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes: The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead and The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox. Carl also published William Faulkner Day by Day, which provides a unique insight into the minute of Faulkner’s daily life and relationships.
Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:
The meaning of The Past Is Never Dead and This Alarming Paradox...
2024-06-2648 minNew Books in BiographyCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962" (U Virginia Press, 2020)By 1935 William Faulkner was well established as an author of critically praised novels, yet the low volume of his sales forced him to seek work in Hollywood. As Carl Rollyson details in The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), this led to an itinerant life divided between Mississippi and Hollywood. Rollyson shows how his encounters with the politicized writers and European refugees who populated the film industry helped broaden his outlook, which was reflected in the injection of anti-fascist elements into his scripts and novels. By the end of the Second World War, Fa...
2023-12-2553 minNew Books in Literary StudiesCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962" (U Virginia Press, 2020)By 1935 William Faulkner was well established as an author of critically praised novels, yet the low volume of his sales forced him to seek work in Hollywood. As Carl Rollyson details in The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), this led to an itinerant life divided between Mississippi and Hollywood. Rollyson shows how his encounters with the politicized writers and European refugees who populated the film industry helped broaden his outlook, which was reflected in the injection of anti-fascist elements into his scripts and novels. By the end of the Second World War, Fa...
2023-12-2553 minNew Books in the American SouthCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962" (U Virginia Press, 2020)By 1935 William Faulkner was well established as an author of critically praised novels, yet the low volume of his sales forced him to seek work in Hollywood. As Carl Rollyson details in The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), this led to an itinerant life divided between Mississippi and Hollywood. Rollyson shows how his encounters with the politicized writers and European refugees who populated the film industry helped broaden his outlook, which was reflected in the injection of anti-fascist elements into his scripts and novels. By the end of the Second World War, Fa...
2023-12-2550 min
A Life in BiographyA Collector’s Item: A Dialogue About BiographyThe correspondence of Carl Rollyson and Samuel R. Delany, a latter day version of Oscar’s Wilde’s The Critic as Artist, in the form reminiscent of a Platonic dialogue.
2023-03-2529 minThe History of Literature488 William Faulkner (with Carl Rollyson)Jacke talks to "serial biographer" Carl Rollyson about his new two-volume biography of William Faulkner, The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 (Volume 1) and The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962 (Volume 2). CARL ROLLYSON, Professor of Journalism at Baruch College, The City University of New York, has published more than forty books ranging in subject matter from biographies of Marilyn Monroe, Lillian Hellman, Martha Gellhorn, Norman Mailer, Rebecca West, Susan Sontag, and Jill Craigie to studies of American culture, genealogy, children's biography, film, and literary criticism.Additional listening suggestions:
2023-02-201h 06
Art of DarknessThe Dark Room: A Man in a Hurry, Faulkner with Carl RollysonProlific and renowned biographer Carl Rollyson joins us in the Dark Room to talk about William Faulkner, the great author's time in Hollywood and more. And listen to the After Dark episode for Patreon subscribers at: patreon.com/artofdarkpod carlrollyson.com twitter.com/crollyson nysun.com/author/carl-rollyson twitter.com/artofdarkpod twitter.com/bradkelly twitter.com/kautzmania Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
2022-03-1354 min
Ear Read This“The Last Days of Sylvia Plath”: Carl Rollyson on BiographyS3E48 Ash is once again joined by biographer Carl Rollyson to discuss his biographies of Sylvia Plath, and some of the challenges facing those who write about her. Find out more about Carl's work here:
Carl Rollyson - Works
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Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy D...
2021-07-2828 minA Life in BiographyMore with Tim Christian & Carol Sklenicka about the principles, practices & mechanics of biographyMore with Tim Christian & Carol Sklenicka about the principles, practices & mechanics of biography with examples from our work
2021-07-2458 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 66: The Principles & Practices of Biography: A Talk with Tim Christian & Carol SklenickaEpisode 66: Talking with Tim Christian (biographer of Mary Hemingway) and Carol Sklenicka (biographers of Raymond Carver and Alice Adams) about the principles and practices of biography.
2021-07-1755 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 65: Biography and the Hermeneutic CircleWhat it means to circle around your subject in a biography and how that circling is hermeneutical. I draw on my biography of Lillian Hellman for examples.
2021-07-1040 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 64: Janet Malcolm and the Black Art of BiographyMy encounters with Janet Malcolm’s assault on biography, beginning in 1994 and continuing through several books of mine in the new millennium.
2021-07-0345 min2021-06-2800 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 63: Talking with Carol Sklenicka about her biography of Alice AdamsThe biographer of Raymond Carver explains what drew her to Alice Adams and the history of the generation that came into its own after World War II
2021-06-2739 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 62: A Talk with Kai Bird about his new Shakespearean/Faulknerian biography of Jimmy CarterA talk with Kai Bird about his Shakespearean/Faulknerian biography of Jimmy Carter
2021-06-1942 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 61: Biography Anne Sebba discussing Ethel Rosenberg: An American TragedyA wide-ranging discussion of why Ethel Rosenberg matters, what is new in her story, and why American writers continue to be obsessed with her life.
2021-06-1246 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 60: The Case for Literary PrurienceI draw on my experience of writing biographies of William Faulkner, Michael Foot, and Amy Lowell, to explain why biographies have to be about the whole person, notwithstanding the charge of literary prurience.
2021-06-053h 52A Life in BiographyEpisode 59: BiographologyWhat you need to know about reading, writing, and reviewing biography.
2021-05-2940 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 58: The Roth/Bailey UproarMy view of what has happened to Bailey’s biography of Roth, how reviewers and readers have responded, and why what I’ve seen so far is inadequate.
2021-05-224h 47A Life in BiographyTalking with Gail Crowther about her new book on Plath & Sexton, Three-Martini Afternoons at the RitzWhat goes into a dual biography, and what a sociologist can bring to the study of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton.
2021-05-0831 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 56: A talk with Ira Nadel about Philip Roth, Leonard Cohen, and authorized/unauthorized biosA wide-ranging interview about how biography gets done, both authorized and unauthorized, with Nadel’s subjects, Leonard Cohen & Philip Roth, and more.
2021-05-0142 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 55: Tales Told Out of School, Part 2: 40 Years of InterviewingWhat happens during and after interviews, with examples drawn from my biographies of Lillian Hellman, Rebecca West, Susan Sontag, Jill Craigie, and Michael Foot.
2021-04-1735 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 54, Part 1: Tales Told Out of School: 40 Years of InterviewsWhat happens during and after interviews with subjects ranging from Walter Matthau to Ellen Burstyn to Richard Wilbur.
2021-04-1039 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 53: Mike Peros, biographer of Dan Duryea and José Ferrer & how Mike became a biographerMike Peros describes how he became a biographer, how he researched his biographies of José Ferrer and Dan Duryea, and much more.
2021-04-0339 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 52: A Plethora of Plath, or Why So Many BiographiesThrough the examples of Marilyn Monroe, Amy Lowell, William Faulkner, and Sylvia Plath, I explain why so many biographies of the same subject are published.
2021-03-2746 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 51: Talking with Bob Batchelor about his book, biography—how it gets done and so much more.A conversation with Bob Batchelor about his work from John Updike to Stan Lee and much more about biography and its place in the world and in our imaginations.
2021-03-2048 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 50: A talk about biography with John Matteson, author of A Worse Place Than HellA wide ranging discussion of the choices a biographer makes and how John Matteson put together his group of figures present at the battle of Frederickburg
2021-03-1346 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 49: A talk with Kathleen Spaltro, Author of The Great Lie: The Creation of Mary AstorA wide ranging of discussion of a great character actress, active in both silent and sound film, her relationships with Ronald Colman and Bette Davis, and her career as a writer of novels and memoirs.
2021-03-0631 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 48: A discussion with Sydney Stern about her book, The Brothers MankiewiczWhat it takes to write a biography of the Mankiewicz brothers and other issues biographers encounter.
2021-02-2732 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 47: Justice to Charmian London, a writer who was much more than Jack London’s wifeA wide ranging discussion of Iris Jamahl Dunkle’s new biography, including reflections on the biographer as villain and how biography can be an act of restitution.
2021-02-2029 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 46: How I Became A Biographer: A conversation with Richard BradfordI speak with Richard Bradford about how he became a biographer, the role biography should play in literary study, and why he chose to write about Ernest Hemingway, Patricia Highsmith and others.
2021-02-1339 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 45: William Faulkner’s Civil War, a talk with Michael Gorra about his new bookAll things biographical and how Faulkner, the man and the writer, approached the Civil War.
2021-02-0639 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 44: The Past Is Never DeadHow does a biographer recreate the past the milieu of a subject’s life. I draw on my own experience in biographies of William Faulkner, Lillian Hellman, Rebecca West, Michael Foot, and others.
2021-01-3148 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 43: Talking with William Souder about Mad at the World, his new biography of John SteinbeckWilliam Souder explains his attraction to Steinbeck, what it takes to do a biography, the audience you can expect to reach as a biographer, and much much more.
2021-01-2338 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 42: Talking Faulkner biography with Larry Wells, author of the memoir, In Faulkner’s ShadowA wide ranging discussion of Larry Wells’s memories of the Faulkner family, of Faulkner biographers, Joseph Blotner and Carvel Collins, and what it takes to research and write biography, which often feels like a Henry James story.
2021-01-1739 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 41: Heather Clark on her new Plath Biography.We talk about how Heather Clark became interested in Plath, how she came to write the biography, how biography is a product of its age, and much more.
2021-01-0930 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 40: John Bryant on his new multi-volume Melville biographyA wide-ranging discussion of biography, how to work on literary figures Melville’s “black consciousness” and much more.
2021-01-0243 min
A Life in BiographyEpisode 40: Talking with John Bryant about his multi-volume Herman Melville biography.A wide ranging discussion of biography, of how to manage the events and characters of a writer’s life, the meaning of Melville’s “black consciousness” and other intriguing aspects of this protean writer.
2021-01-0244 minA Life in BiographyPart 3 of my interview with Alexis CoeSlavery, capitalism, what went into the making of Washington’s life and those of his contemporaries—plus Alexis Coe puts THE BIG QUESTION to me.
2020-12-2915 minA Life in BiographyPart 2 of my interview with Alexis CoeMore discussion of how to shake up the genre of presidential biography.
2020-12-2906 minA Life in BiographyPart 1: Alexis Coe author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George WashingtonA wide ranging discussion of presidential biography and why Alexis Coe decided on what has been called a “historiographical intervention.”
2020-12-2909 min
Anominy Questionable MoviesCarl RollysonIn which eminent biographer CARL ROLLYSON stops by to talk about Norman Mailer, Marilyn Monroe, Susan Sontag, and the art and philosophy of biography. (Warning: contains spoilers and some content may be triggering.)
2020-12-281h 27A Life in BiographyEpisode 38: Ten Tips For Enterprising BiographersMy experience over 40 years of contacting sources and how they responded, and how I got them to respond.
2020-12-2639 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 37: Why Plath: My Rollicking Interview with Emily Van Dyne about her forthcoming bookMuch talk about Emily’s book, Loving Sylvia Plath, how students and other readers react to Plath, and the role biography plays in the mixed reactions to her work.
2020-12-1937 minA Life in BiographyHow it took 30 years to write 2 pages of The Life of William FaulknerDiscussing my experience and Faulkner’s in Hollywood and how all that gets on the page.
2020-12-1223 minA Life in BiographyHow it took 30 years to write 2 page of The Life of William Faulkner.Describing my experience and Faulkner’s in Hollywood and how it all gets onto the page.
2020-12-1223 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 35Talking with Peter K. Steinberg, co-editor of The Letters of Sylvia Plath.
2020-12-0431 minNew Books in the American SouthCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962" (U Virginia Press, 2020)By 1935 William Faulkner was well established as an author of critically praised novels, yet the low volume of his sales forced him to seek work in Hollywood. As Carl Rollyson details in The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), this led to an itinerant life divided between Mississippi and Hollywood. Rollyson shows how his encounters with the politicized writers and European refugees who populated the film industry helped broaden his outlook, which was reflected in the injection of anti-fascist elements into his scripts and novels. By the end of the Second World War, Fa...
2020-12-0150 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 34: Speaking with Celia Stahr about her splendid biography Frida in AmericaA conversation about Frida Kahlo and her three years in America with a great cast of characters, including Henry Ford, the Rockefeller’s, Georgia O’Keefee, Louis Nevelson and much, much more.
2020-11-281h 07A Life in BiographyEpisode 33: How I Became an Outlaw, Part 2: The Case of Michael FootDealing with family and friends.
2020-11-2148 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 32: My conversation with Jonathan Alter about his new biography of Jimmy Carter.We discuss the first full-length biography of Jimmy Carter, his achievements and failures, his rise from the bottom third to the top third of U.S. presidents, and much more about what a biography can accomplish.
2020-11-143h 02A Life in BiographyHow I became an outlaw biographerWorking on Lillian Hellman, Martha Gellhorn, Norman Mailer, Rebecca West, Susan Sontag, Jill Craigie, Michael Foot, Dana Andrews, Walter Brennan, Amy Lowell, Sylvia Plath, William Faulkner.
2020-11-0752 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 30: The Biographical Novel: Who Cares?I discuss novels about Marilyn Monroe, Walt Disney, Martha Gellhorn, H. G. Wells and mull over a universe in which biography and biographical novels can co-exist.
2020-10-3138 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 29: The Biography PoliceAn account of the campaigns orchestrated against biographers, using as examples biographies of T. E. Lawrence and Susan Sontag.
2020-10-2436 minA Life in BiographyReading and Writing Biography: A PrimerThe sorry state of reviewing biography as reviewers turns in what amounts to book reports, letting down the genre of biography and those who practice it.
2020-10-1727 minA Life in BiographyWhat a biographer knows.I read and discuss a section from The Life of William Faulkner, pointing out my use of evidence, and concluding that I am my own best evidence.
2020-10-1051 minA Life in BiographyWhat is a definitive biography?I consider the question in the light of biographies of Sylvia Plath, William Faulkner, Olson Welles, John F. Kennedy, and others.
2020-10-0348 minA Life in BiographyThe Cruelty of BiographyA wide ranging discussion of the anathemas against biography perpetuated by modern writers, including Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Somerset Maugham, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Anthony Powell.
2020-09-2626 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 24: Psychologizing BiographyWhat does Psychologizing biography mean? How I have used it.
2020-09-1918 minA Life in BiographyReviewing Biography: The Case of Sylvia PlathI read a review of my book, The Last Days of Sylvia Plath, in order to discuss the methodology of biography and of the reviewer.
2020-09-1220 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 22: The Case Against BiographyWhat to say about the epistemology of biography and why it is sometimes better to not have been there, but to see it all from afar and yet in closeup, as the past is recreated in the biographer’s imagination.
2020-09-0515 minA Life in BiographyWords Often Applied to BiographyAuthorized/Unauthorized; Gossipy/Salacious/; Plodding/Workmanlike/Revisionist
2020-08-2915 minA Life in Biography3 Questions You Should Never Ask About Biography1. Is the subject worthy of a biography. 2. Is the subject too small? 3. Why another biography of?
2020-08-2214 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 19: Proposing a BiographyWhy it is important to do a proposal? Why not just write the book? This podcast tells you why.
2020-08-1518 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 18: Biography, The Historical Present, and YouWhen does it make sense to use the present tense in a biography? Examples from the work of Noel Riley Fitch, William Faulkner, and yours truly.
2020-08-0819 minA Life in BiographyMarilyn Monroe and the Idea of BiographyBiography is its own form of knowledge, a view that many readers and reviewers of biography are reluctant to acknowledge, or do not even consider.
2020-08-0123 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 16: My Listeners RespondListeners who want to know how to navigate the varied access to sources with different subjects, or how to present a new vision without new sources.
2020-07-2523 minA Life in BiographyThe Gaps and Bulges of BiographyWhat to do when not all parts of your biographical subject’s life are equal, when the first part of the life seems the most exciting, for example, or when interest only really builds in the last part of the subject’s life.
2020-07-1815 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 14: Who Deserves A Biography?The answer to who deserves a biography is everyone, or anyone. It all depends on the materials you have, if the story moves you, and you know how to tell it.
2020-07-1107 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 13: Homage to Deirdre Bair and the Purpose of BiographyMy tribute to one of the great biographers of our time and why her work matters, and why biography matters.
2020-07-0415 minA Life in BiographyHow I Became a BiographerA quick explanation of how it all started with Marilyn Monroe.
2020-06-2714 minA Life in BiographyFair Use Biography: Forget about the Don’ts in Most Cases. Just go ahead.My account for forty years of dealing with fair use, biographical subjects, and publishers.
2020-06-2131 minA Life in BiographyThe Whys and Wherefores of Documentary BiographyHow dating all the days of a life provide a different way of approaching what is left out in other biographies.
2020-06-1409 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 9: How To Begin a Biography: The Case of William FaulknerI look at how biographers have begun their biographies and the merits of different kinds of openings and why biography has been called factitious.
2020-06-0621 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 8: How to End a Biography, The Case of Sylvia PlathI read from the last paragraphs of Plath biographies, commenting on them, and explain my own choices in writing American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath and The Last Days of Sylvia Plath.
2020-05-3022 min2020-05-2427 minA Life in BiographyBuilding a Better Biography: How to Capture the Whole ManI give a sense of the interplay between Faulkner the man, his fiction, and his film writing.
2020-05-1624 minA Life in BiographySylvia Plath, Meet Rebecca WestI explore why it is that Sylvia Plath never seemed to be aware of Rebecca West, a world class writer, who still has so much to say to the readers of Plath and of modern literature.
2020-05-1007 minNew Books in the American SouthCarl Rollyson, "The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934" (UVA Press, 2020)As a novelist, short story author, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate, William Faulkner looms large in modern American literature. Yet the very range of his work and the sources for his rich literary worlds often defy easy assessment. In The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 (University of Virginia Press, 2020), Carl Rollyson uses both an extensive range of archival collections and Faulkner’s wide-ranging literary output to assess the author’s life and the development of his many famous works. Growing up in Mississippi, young William absorbed his family’s tales and the larger history of the re...
2020-05-0459 minA Life in BiographyA Tale of Two Biographies: The Last Days of Sylvia Plath and The Life of William FaulknerWhy I wrote these two books and what in the world Plath and Faulkner have to do with the world around us.
2020-05-0248 minA Life in BiographyEpisode 3: Faulkner PreludesHow I began my work on Faulkner; what I mean by an intertextual biography; why Joan Crawford matters in a Faulkner biography; Faulkner as diplomat; what Faulkner to read first.
2020-04-2516 minA Life in BiographyA Life in Biography: Episode 2: Why Care About William Faulkner?A two-minute podcast. Call it “The Elevator Pitch.”
2020-04-1719 minA Life in BiographyThe Last Days of Sylvia PlathIn about twelve minutes I talk about what it was like in the last days of Sylvia Plath, how people have reacted to her death, and why I think it wasn’t all just sad.
2020-04-1212 min
Better KnownCarl RollysonCarl Rollyson discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. You can read more about Carl and his books at www.carlrollyson.com.
Harriet Hume by Rebecca West https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1982/08/12/staying-the-course/
The Searching Wind by Lillian Hellmann https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-searching-wind
Fallen Angel http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2005/07/fallen-angel-1945-72005.html
Clash by Night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_by_Night
The Mansion by William Faulkner https://brickmag.com/the-mansion-by-william-faulkner/
Plutarch award for biography https://biographersinternational.org...
2019-08-0427 min
Listen to New Releases of Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & MusiciansReading Susan Sontag Audiobook by Carl RollysonPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.
Title: Reading Susan Sontag
Subtitle: A Critical Introduction to Her Work
Author: Carl Rollyson
Narrator: Paul Bloede
Format: Unabridged
Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
Language: English
Release date: 04-04-16
Publisher: Carl Rollyson
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians
Publisher's Summary:
The first book to survey the broad range of Ms. Sontag's work, including full discussions of her fiction. One can ask for no better guidebook.
2016-04-046h 21
Discover the Best Sellers Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & MusiciansFemale Icons Audiobook by Carl RollysonPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.
Title: Female Icons
Subtitle: Marilyn Monroe to Susan Sontag
Author: Carl Rollyson
Narrator: Diane Lehman
Format: Unabridged
Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
Language: English
Release date: 12-11-15
Publisher: Carl Rollyson
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians
Publisher's Summary:
This volume represents more than 25 years of writing about female icons and biography. Rollyson provides the bits and pieces that resulted not only in his biography of Marilyn Monroe but also in much of the work he has subsequently done on Lillian Hellman, Martha Gellhorn, Rebecca West, Susan...
2015-12-118h 44
Listen to New Releases of Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & MusiciansLillian Hellman Audiobook by Carl RollysonPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.
Title: Lillian Hellman
Subtitle: Her Life and Legend
Author: Carl Rollyson
Narrator: Colleen Patrick
Format: Unabridged
Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
Language: English
Release date: 08-31-15
Publisher: Carl Rollyson
Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians
Publisher's Summary:
Through diaries, letters, government files, and interviews, Carl Rollyson draws a vital and vibrant portrait of the life, the work, and the legend of Lillian Hellman: America's most controversial radical playwright. Rollyson explores the sources and backgrounds of her best-selling memoirs, the development of...
2015-08-316h 21
Get Best Sellers Audiobooks in Travel & Adventure, Adventure & ExplorationHollywood Enigma Audiobook by Carl RollysonPlease visit https://fashabooks.com/aff/fashabooks/1639 to download full audiobooks of your choice for free. Title: Hollywood Enigma Subtitle: Dana Andrews, Hollywood Legends Author: Carl Rollyson Narrator: John Stamper Format: Unabridged Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins Language: English Release date: 11-26-14 Publisher: Carl Rollyson Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians Publisher's Summary: Dana Andrews (1909-1992) worked with distinguished directors such as John Ford, Lewis Milestone, Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang, William Wyler, William A. Wellman, Mervyn Le Roy, Jean Renoir, and Elia Kazan. He played romantic leads alongside the great beauties of the modern screen...
2014-11-2604 min
Download Popular Titles Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, CelebritiesMarilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress, Revised and Updated Audiobook by Carl RollysonPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.
Title: Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress, Revised and Updated
Author: Carl Rollyson
Narrator: John Stamper
Format: Unabridged
Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-03-14
Publisher: Carl Rollyson
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 7 votes
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities
Publisher's Summary:
In American popular culture, Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) has evolved in stature from movie superstar to American icon. Monroe's own understanding of her place in the American imagination and her effort to perfect her talent as an actress are explored with great sensitivity in...
2014-10-0311h 34
Download the Popular Authors Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & MusiciansAmerican Isis Audiobook by Carl RollysonPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.
Title: American Isis
Subtitle: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath
Author: Carl Rollyson
Narrator: George Newbern
Format: Unabridged
Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
Language: English
Release date: 02-25-13
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 20 votes
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians
Publisher's Summary:
The life and work of Sylvia Plath has taken on the proportions of myth. Educated at Smith, she had an epically conflict-filled relationship with her mother, Aurelia. She then married the poet Ted Hughes and plunged into the Sturm und Drang...
2013-02-2510h 15