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In ONE WRITER'S IMAGINATION, Suzanne Marrs draws upon nearly twenty years of conversations, interviews, and friendship with Eudora Welty to discuss the intersections between biography and art in the Pulitzer Prize winner's work.Through an engaging chronological and comprehensive reading of the Welty canon, Marrs describes the ways Welty's creative process transformed and transfigured fact to serve the purposes of fiction.She points to the spark that lit Welty's imagination--an imagination that thrived on polarities in her personal lifeand in society at large.

Marrs offers new evidence of the role Welty's mother, circle of friends, and community played in her development as a writer and analyzes the manner in which her most heartfelt relationships--including her romance with John Robinson--informs her work.She charts the profound and often subtle ways Welty's fiction responded to the crucial historical episodes of her time and the writer's personal reactions to the issues of her day.In doing so, Marrs proves Welty to be a much more political artist than has been conventionally thought.

Marrs's relationship to Eudora Welty as a friend, scholar, and archivist--with access to private papers and restricted correspondence--makes her a unique authority on Welty's forty-year career.The eclectic approach of her study speaks to the exhilarating power of imagination Welty so thoroughly enjoyed in the act of writing.

Southern Literary Studies; Fred Hobson, Editor ... Read more

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This work is based on and examines the premise that the vision of reality projected in Welty's writing is of a holistic rather than a dualistic nature. Selected by CHOICE as an "Outstanding Academic Book" in 1992. ... Read more

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Considers the roles expected of Southern women and how they influenced the art and lives of O'Connor, Welty and Carson McCullers
Westling examines the roles expected of Southern women and suggests how these roles may have shaped the lives and art of Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, and Flannery O'Connor.

Discusses how each reacted to the expected place of women, using evidence found in their letters, fiction, and lives. Sees each as having countered an "ambiguous" inheritance "by creating [her] own rich matriarchal traditions" through art. Contends that, collectively, their fiction serves as a denial of "the patriarchal version of Southern life" presented by such authors as William Faulkner, John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, and William Styron.

Concentrates on their concerns as women, specifically "their treatment of the problems of identity, on attitudes toward the mother, on the ways in which men are perceived, and on the distinctly female uses of place and symbol in their stories." Argues that whereas Welty celebrates womankind, O'Connor and McCullers struggle against it.

Sees Flannery O'Connor's "sour and resentful" children "as emblems of their mothers' debilitating power" who "set themselves at odds" with them "in resistance to femininity." Observes that, of all the daughters O'Connor created through her art, only the retarded Lucynell Crater is "at ease with her feminine self."

Includes careful explications of "A Temple of the Holy Ghost" (with comparisons to McCuller's The Member of the Wedding and "Good Country People"; a discussion of the "sexual dimension" of O'Connor's stories and her use of religious solutions "to the problem of feminine identity"; differences between O'Connor's male ("aggressive and vindictive") and female ("rendered passive by punishment") characters; and, the influence of the hostile legal and business environment faced by post-Civil War Southern widows on O'Connor's portrayal of them.

Characterizes O'Connor's mother-daughter relationships in discussions of O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," "Why Do the Heathen Rage," "A Circle in the Fire," "Revelation," and "A Stroke of Good Fortune."

Notes Flannery O'Connor's familiarity with Thomas Bulfinch's Mythology, comparative mythology, and Greek tragedy (through Robert Fitzgerald's work), and suggests that this knowledge influenced her fictional landscapes and her depiction of groves, meadows, pastures, and the protective woods surrounding farms ruled by women.

Ties men's incursions onto these farms to sexual imagery and seduction patterns, arguing that the "pattern and tone of action in O'Connor's farm stories" is close to "the archetypal rape images of Greek mythology." Discusses "Greenleaf" and "A Circle in the Fire" to illustrate why the persistent appearance of fertility myths "creates tensions in the stories which O'Connor's craft cannot resolve."

Concludes that while O'Connor's fiction "is an achievement of the first order in literary terms, she also wrote stories "where problems of female sexual identity twist plots away from their intended shapes and where feminine assertion is continually punished by masculine assaults which distort ancient mythic patterns associating women with the landscape."

R. Neil Scott / Middle Tennessee State University
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ry agency, wrote to a relatively unknown Eudora Welty, offering to become her agent. This elegant portrait traces Welty's development as a writer and Russell's encouragement of, and devotion to, her talent. ... Read more

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The Best Personal portrait of Eudora Welty Ever Written
This is a knockout of a book.This is what readers and fans of the great writers want to know, the author's career history, how they first attracted attention and made literary history.Fascinating insights into MissWelty's decades long business relationship and friendship with her agentMr. Russell, touching and beautiful.This is what we want, not someconjecture-ridden tacky piece of slop like Ann Weldron's"biography" of Miss Welty. ... Read more

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On the occasion of Eudora Welty's ninetieth birthday in 1999, a pantheon of accomplished writers came together to offer their deeply personal tributes in honor of her importance as the "first lady of American letters." Many of these contributors have long friendships with Welty, while others have felt her influence on their writing from a distance. The common denominator, though, is their collective awe and respect for her unrivaled place in America literature. ... Read more

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Appreciations
I thought about giving this four stars because as an offering it is slim, but then, Eudora Welty is a five star writer and these testimonies from others are first rate.There is a redemptive quality to Welty's writing.She is living disproof of the neurotic artist.Fred Chappell refers to her present dreadnought fame and adds that she was always admired by other writers.

In reading "Why I live at the P.O." Tony Earley realized that people in literature spoke as he did.He believes the story has never lost its miraculous sheen.Welty was a teacher of Ellen Gilchrist.

Eudora Welty is a dominant figure in American literature as she has pursued her examinations of illusions and delusions, prejudice and violence.Reynolds Price notes that he and Welty share a joy in having such unbounded worlds to watch.One writer remarks that there is mystery in her prose. ... Read more

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Great Drawl
This book has a candid southern feel, with a real drawl built into the words.She exposes the writer, Eudora Welty, through her comparison test, as a queen of the south and a mental anomaly.Her rights as a female are also discussed.Even the title runs like river water on the tongue.I enjoyed it. ... Read more

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Eudora Welty is a beloved institution of Southern fiction and American literature, whose closely guarded privacy has prevented a full-scale study of her life and work--until now.

A significant contribution to the world of letters, Ann Waldron's biography chronicles the history and achievements of one of our greatest living authors, from a Mississippi childhood to the sale of her first short story, from her literary friendships with Katherine Anne Porter and Elizabeth Bowen to her rivalry with Carson McCullers.

Elegant and authoritative, this first biography to chart the life of a national treasure is a must-have for Welty fans and scholars everywhere.Amazon.com Review
"They'd have a hard time trying to find out something aboutme," Eudora Welty once told an interviewer to explain her fierceaversion to biography. Ann Waldron, who has written well-receivedbiographies of Southern novelist Caroline Gordon and editor HoddingCarter, discovered just how hard a time when she set out towrite the first, and of course unauthorized, biography of this"sanctified, canonized, apotheosized" literary figure. But Waldronpersisted to brilliant results: Eudora: A Writer's Life is notonly a fully detailed portrait but a fair and balanced one.

"Ugly to the point of being grotesque," as a fellow Mississippian saidof her, Welty, who was born in Jackson in 1909, always made her way bycharm, wit, and an offbeat sense of humor. Though Waldron admits thatfew of Welty's friends would talk to her, she nonetheless tracked downamazing amounts of new material on her personal life--her tense,guilt-ridden relationship with her widowed mother; her sustainingfriendships with such literary figures as Katherine Anne Porter,Elizabeth Bowen, and Reynolds Price; and her possible romance with themysterious John Robinson, who, like many of the men in Welty's life,turned out to be gay.

Waldron does a creditable, if at times perfunctory, job of followingthe trajectory of Welty's literary career--from her first hauntinglystrange short stories collected in A Curtain of Greento whimsical productions of her midcareer like The Ponder Heartto her "warm, appealing, beautifully written" memoir, One Writer'sBeginnings. Literary analysis is scant here, but that's fine,because many others have written at length and in depth about Welty'swork. But only Ann Waldron has dared to do the life--and she hassucceeded in making it clear, sympathetic, respectful, and wonderfullyreadable. --David Laskin ... Read more

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Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw for Bookreporter.com
Interpretations of books may differ, but most readers agree that an author's lot in life is to unlock diaries, tell secrets, and share the intimate thoughts of their characters. But when it comes to sharing theirlives, some authors are more willing to bare their pasts and share theirinspiration than others. Eudora Welty did not embrace the notion of herlife populating pages of a biography, yet Ann Waldron portrays the authorin EUDORA: A Writer's Life in a way that will surely prompt a renewedinterest in her works.

Waldron employs a stark style of writing that isat times dry, listing dates and events with little commentary, but hersimplicity allows the richness of her content to shine. A book thatpromises to enthrall readers whose literary interests have led to Welty'snovels, EUDORA: A Writer's Life will undoubtedly serve as a usefulreference.

Those whose interest in Welty precedes her novels should beprepared for a sneak peek into the author's development of characters andthe personal experiences that may have molded them in her mind. Usingquotes from interviews and snippets from correspondence, Waldron is able toproject Welty's voice in a way that allows readers to hear Welty as thoughshe were in the same room. Writers will especially appreciate one quotefrom Welty, in which she explains the way she discovered one character'srole in several short stories. "All I had to do was put two and twotogether, him and my little group, and I had him by the tail," shesaid.

While Waldron shares some of Welty's inner thoughts, asdocumented in letters and such, she does not presume to analyze the meaningbehind Welty's stories or the motivation of her characters, a practice thatWelty openly disparaged. In one chapter, Welty comments on letters shereceived from readers wanting to know whether a character's choice of anapple in "A Visit of Charity" is a reference to the Garden ofEden. Welty, whose impatience resonates in her quote said of the question,"The things some people teach! She was just eating that [an apple] theway you would a Hershey bar --- or anything else you'd saved for a rewardafter an ordeal. I used to visit the old ladies. They scared me. I couldn'twait to leave."

This quote and others help to draw a picture ofWelty, often called "Eudo" by family and friends and lovedunilaterally by colleagues, friends, family, and audiences around theworld. She was not, however, a woman who enjoyed the social life of thetimes. Her looks are described by some as ugly, off-putting, and odd; butsuch descriptions are always followed by praise of her character, her zestfor life, and her talent as a writer. Welty's looks may have prevented aslightly less creative girl from achieving similar heights, but she seemedto channel both the negative and the positives of her life into her work.She was able to transcend the superficiality of the times, which put astaggering amount of importance on looks, and is remembered by colleaguesas a woman before her time.

The book, which spans 340 pages, alsodelves into the network of literary giants that Welty cultivated. From herhometown of Jackson, Mississippi to New York City and abroad Welty toured,spoke, and nurtured a growing base of loyal friends and fans. She wascalled approachable by students who attended her lectures and lovable byfriends who shared intimate moments and memories with her. Well respectedand revered by writers, editors, and publishers, Welty was a multifacetedwoman who first tested creative waters as a photographer who was known towalk into less fortunate neighborhoods and take pictures of people from allwalks of life.

Welty identified her dream to be a writer in the early20s and her determination led her from the society pages of a dailyMississippi newspaper to becoming junior publicist for the Works ProgressAdministration; and, later, a novelist whose life is of interest to readersaround the world.

After reading about her life, I find myself recallingcharacters that at one point or another find themselves in similarcircumstances or places that Eudora experienced, and have already put herautobiography titled ONE WRITER'S BEGINNINGS on my literary wish list.

--- Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw

Rewarding glimpses into a remarkable life
I spent most of the weekend immersed in this book--and becoming enchanted with Eudora Welty.Monday I was at the library getting several of her works.I wanted to start at the beginning, so I read her first shortstory--Death of a Traveling Salesman.It was as gripping and powerful as Ihad hoped.This biography is respectful and insightful.It provides youwith a strong sense of a gentle, talented southern lady who was absolutelytrue to herself and the world in which she spent her life and nurtured hertalents. I am looking forward to reading everything Eudora Welty wrote andgetting to know her.And it all began with this biography.

The Petrified Biographer
This is a terrible, mean-spirited attack against our greatest living writer, attacking her looks, her private life, etc. Eudora Welty has said throughout her life that she didn't want a biography written about her.This woman obviously does not respect her or she would respect her wishes.And why do such a book at this late date, with Miss Welty about to turn90?? The author coyly pretends to be an admirer and then makes endlesslurid allusions to a lady who basically has devoted her whole life tocultivating her art. Our most gifted writer is dismissed as a homely,unwanted "fag hag." (Judging by the photo of the dust jacket,Miss Waldron is no Hedy Lamarr herself). What would Edna Earle say aboutsuch a woman!!Don't buy this garbage. Buy another copy of one of MissEudora's books instead.You'll love it and it won't upset your stomach.To think some poor trees had to be slaughtered for this trash!!By theway, Happy 90th Birthday to Miss Eudora Welty who will certainly survivesuch a infantileattack as this.And someday an HONORABLE biography abouther no will doubt be written. ... Read more

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This collection of essays about the writings of Eudora Welty reflects a range of Welty criticism. Themes, forms, and stylistic features in her work are given careful consideration by some of the most notable scholars on her work: John Alexander Allen, J.A. Bryant, Jr., Daniel Curley, Julia L. Demmin, Albert J. Devlin, Chester E. Eisinger, Warren French, Seymour Gross, John Edward Hardy, Robert B. Heilman, Michael Kreyling, Barbara McKenzie, Daniele Pitavy-Souques, and Ruth M. Vande Kieft.

This edition, selected from the twenty-seven essays published in 1979 as Eudora Welty: Critical Essays, retains the breadth of subject and approach that marked the earlier volume. ... Read more