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This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: India; History / Asia / India ... Read more

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Publisher: Collins, Keese, ... Read more

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Granted privileged access to Joyce Carol Oates's letters and journals, as well as extensive interviews with family, friends, colleagues, and Oates herself, biographer Greg Johnson examines the relationship between Oates's life and work in this fascinating exploration of a complex and gifted artist.Johnson reveals little-known facts about Oates's personal and family history and debunks many of the myths that have arisen about this brilliant, enigmatic woman. Johnson takes readers from Oates's impoverished childhood in upstate New York and the birth of her autistic sister through Oates's studies at Syracuse University, where her talent was immediately recognized, to the full breadth of her astonishingly productive career. His astute examination of Oates's novels, short stories, and plays demonstrates how her art has been informed by her life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

A must read for JCO fans!
This book was invaluable in writing a term paper on my favorite author; passed the book around class and they loved it!

I Wish I Could Go Back And Tell Myself, "Do Not Read This Book."
A few years ago I broke my own rule in reading this book, and that is I try to concentrate on the works of a writer (or musician or artist) and not the figure who created them. Even so, this was not an impressive work of biography, and served more as an outlet for the fawning Mr. Johnson's furtive desire to churn out a volume of literary criticism than it fulfilled his ambition to detail the life story of a great writer. There is background information on Joyce Carol Oates here, particularly her childhood in upstate New York, but it's far better to leave this woman as the beautifully described "invisible writer" than to deal with Greg Johnson's tiring prose and attempts to delve into why Oates is as she is. Why is comprehension of motivation in the case of Joyce Carol Oates either desirable or possible? Does any theory that could be presented alter one word she had ever penned? I reject the trite of twentieth-century psychological arguments that would have us believe Oates' frequent forays into violent and sexual topics reflect some trauma within her psyche. Human beings are innately complex, and one with a mind like Oates' is imminently so. Joyce Carol Oates is and ought to remain the invisible writer, and Mr. Johnson should stick to compiling and editing her interviews. That's a more valid form of investigation into this living treasure, as well as a more polite one.

Excellent personal biography

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Joyce Carol Oates's work (there was a time in my life when I thought her early short stories were fantastic, but her later work never impressed me), but I found this biography extremely satisfying. Johnson writes about Oates as an admiring friend (almost like Boswell to his Johnson), relating all the stages of her life and career: her childhood in Niagara County, NY; her college days; her marriage; teaching in Detroit; her move to Princeton. He writes about Oates's work, of course, but never in an analytical way - it's not a literary biography, but a biography about a writer. He is a most appealing writer in this regard, and he makes us interested in his subject as a person/teacher/writer in a most compelling fashion. Johnson is a very impelling writer; I found the book a real joy to read - and informative, too.

Very Readable Biography, Yet JCO Still Mysterious to Me
Invisible Writer is throughly researched and well written. I found it very readable, even though I was not a fan of JCO's. I'm still not a fan of hers. Greg Johnson manages to create a fair portrait of JCO as a human who is sometimes prickly and vain. I understand other reviewers' comments that he's too soft on her, but I see it as him being careful to be fair in writing about someone who is still producing some of her best work. Oddly I didn't find that his treatment made her more likeable, only that it made JCO someone with whom I can empathize.

The greatest question remaining about JCO is the violence, especially sexual, in her work. A childhood sexual incident is mentioned, but it seems rather mundane. Johnson refers to some of the hardships suffered by JCO's family, but those hardships doesn't seem to explain well enough how this quiet, intellectual woman lives in such another world in her writer's imagination. Perhaps that's the intrigue of JCO.

Disappointing
I looked forward to reading a biography of this important writer. Instead, I felt as if I was reading literary criticsm. Mr. Johnson had incredible access to Oates, via journals and interviews. Instead of using this access to bring us vibrant insight into the process of creation as Oates brings a book from idea to the page, we get pages of dense literary analysis jumping back in forth in time within one page. Perhaps I need to read the Reader's Digest version... ... Read more

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A full-scale profile of Bram Stoker journeys beyond the facade of a proper Victorian gentleman to uncover the complex undercurrents that are revealed in the turbulent themes of the author's stories and novels, including sexuality, violence, and a fascination with death.Amazon.com Review
"I am here to do Your bidding, Master. I am Your slave,and You will reward me, for I shall be faithful." These wordsspoken by Renfield to Dracula might have been said by Bram Stoker tohis boss, the mesmerizing, domineering actor Henry Irving. Stoker wassuch a mild-mannered, secretive man that the real subject of thisacclaimed biography turns out to be the genesis of his novelDracula, and Irving--the man who, according to Barbara Belford,inspired its famous monster. Other fascinating characters who appearin Stoker's life are Florence Stoker (courted by Oscar Wilde beforeBram married her), Ellen Terry (Irving's leading lady), Walt Whitman,the aging Lord Tennyson, W. S. Gilbert, William Gladstone, LadySperanza Wilde, her son Oscar, Queen Victoria (who knights Irving, thefirst actor so honored), George Bernard Shaw, and Mark Twain. AsMargot Peters writes in the New York Times Book Review,"Stoker himself is pretty much swamped in these heavy seas. Butas Ms. Belford's intelligent, well-written and always interesting bookmakes clear, Stoker lived to serve. His revenge for lifelongself-effacement was Dracula." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Her Story of Bram Stoker
Barbara Belford is a professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and wrote a biography of Violet Hunt. `Count Dracula' is the most filmed character in history after `Sherlock Holmes', but most people never read the novel. Stoker's `Dracula' is the best known of his novels. It has been translated into virtually all European languages except Rumanian. The `Prologue' begins by referencing passages from `Dracula'. [I never read this novel or knew what was there.] This book seems to require a background in literature that a casual reader may not have. Belford mentions Stoker's childhood illness and compares it to Stoker's future novel. Cholera and other plagues were recurrent events in the 19th century. Since little was known about Stoker's early life Belford has to fill in the blanks. His siblings weren't affected like Bram. Does the deaths of over a million from starvation (p.17) far exceed the victims of Dracula? There was no such mortality in Europe. The Stoker family is of Dutch origin (p.30). Many were civil service bureaucrats. Cholera patients were sometimes buried alive (p.22). The narrative keeps being interrupted by literary references; I don't like this style (p.24). This book is valuable as a look into 19th century life, the theatrical business, and the career of Bram Stoker. Another problem is the photographs: they are spread throughout the book, the "Illustration Credits" do not list the pages. Belford's story of the stage play did not mention that Bela Lugosi played Count Dracula on the stage but was not reportedly the first choice for the film (p.33).

Abraham Stoker was born in 1847 Ireland. His father was a civil servant to the British Government, his mother was later an advocate of schooling for the handicapped. Bram went to Trinity College in Dublin, was a great athlete, and became interested in dramatics. He was a fan of Walt Whitman's poetry (p.43). After graduating he met Henry Irving the famous actor and became his business manager and friend. Irish legends tell of the Dearg-due (p.64). Stoker wrote short stories (p.66). Stoker married Florence Balcombe in 1878. He picked a new play that became a success (p.117). Stoker was a friend and advisor to Prime Minister Gladstone (p.131). Stoker risked his life to save a stranger from drowning and received a medal (p.137). Irving (and Stoker) toured America in the 1880s and later. Belford says the characters in `Dracula' were based on people known to Stoker (p.184). Stoker became a barrister in 1890 but never practiced law or tried a case (p.193). In the late 19th century some turned away from Christianity to embrace pagan superstitions (p.211). Why did Stoker pick the historic Dracula for his novel (p.260)? Stoker spent 6 years on writing this novel. Page 279 says "horse-drawn hansom" but the hansom cab was a two-wheeler. "The Thirty-Nine Steps" was a John Buchan novel (p.294). Stoker wanted to ban lewd fiction (p.312). Stoker died in 1912 of "locomotor ataxy, granular contracted kidney, exhaustion" (p.319). Some suggested a disease.

Why was Dracula so popular in the past? It shows a threat to humanity that can be overcome when people learn what must be done. Did Dracula represent a foreign ruler (Kaiser Bill or Hitler), or the economic panics or depressions? Was it a morality play where the good guys win at the end? The 1931 film seems to be a simplified and condensed version of the novel, like the bowdlerized Fairy Tales of the 20th century. It proved very popular. There were many vampire stories in the 19th century, now mostly forgotten.

Insight into Bram Stoker & His Life at the Lyceum.
Barbara Belford's "Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Author of Dracula" is considered to be the most scholarly and thorough of the 3 Bram Stoker biographies that have been published. But Mr. Stoker was a reticent person about whose personal life, opinions, and character there is precious little known. Whether out of humility or caution, he usually took care not to reveal himself. So what we know of Stoker comes primarily from his public life, which was thankfully shared with several grander, more loquacious personalities. Perhaps due to the scarcity of information about her subject, Barbara Belford gives Stoker's friends, colleagues, and the London theater community a lot of attention, especially Henry Irving, the great actor whose fame was dwarfed only by his ego, and whom Bram Stoker dedicated 27 years of his life to serving. Indeed, this biography of Stoker would serve well as a history of Irving's famous Lyceum Theatre for the decades that Stoker served as its acting manager.

Thebook starts by describing Stoker's childhood in Dublin, the third child born to a middle class Anglo-Irish family in 1847 during the potato famine, and his apparent debilitation until the age of 7. He grew up to be a civil servant like his father, and pursued personal interests as an unpaid drama critic for the "Evening Mail", through which Stoker met Henry Irving. After marrying the lovely Florence Balcombe, whom Oscar Wilde also courted, the Stokers moved to London whereBram's efficient management would help make the 1500-seat Lyceum Theatre fashionable and profitable. Since the Lyceum dominated Stoker's life, it dominates his biography, but Belford also discusses his trips to America on tour with the Lyceum company, his effusive admiration for Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln, and his novels and stories.

The upshot of "Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Man Who Wrote Dracula" is that Bram Stoker was a modest, hardworking man, exceedingly courteous even by Victorian standards, whose tireless work for Henry Irving was acknowledged by many but unappreciated and unrewarded by Irving himself. Stoker's genial but reserved manner harbored passionate, worshipful emotions toward his heroes, invariably men of power with larger-than-life personalities. Belford draws an occasional parallel between persons in Bram Stoker's own life and characters in "Dracula". Most notably, she sees a "sinister caricature" of Henry Irving in the vampire Count. Actress Ellen Terry seems to be reflected in Mina, and Stoker's wife Florence may have lent some of her character to Lucy. None of this is a stretch as long as one recognizes that "Dracula"'s characters don't have a single source, but many.

This biography includes a lot of good information for fans of Bram Stoker's work, but a couple of stylistic problems nagged at me. One is Belford's confusing tendency to refer to people by first or last name only, at the beginning of a chapter, instead of starting off with a full name. Another is the repeated use of the phrase "Unholy Trinity" to describe the business partnership between Henry Irving, Bram Stoker, and stage manager H.J. Loveday, which I found melodramatic. But Belford's book succeeds in creating a picture of Bram Stoker's personality without reading too much into his actions or words.

Best Book I ever read!
The main caracters in the story are Jonathan Harker, Mina Murry/Harker, and Lucy Westenras.There are several different settings, so I won,t list them specifically.Most of the book, they are in Europe in the 1800's.The plot of the books is Jonathan is a solicitor and meets the "Count".Sopposably the Count is friendly and turns evil. My opinion of the book is it is great it has some diffficult words so I recommend it to 8th grade and above.It is very interesting and fun.I liked the way that the author set up the book and the way he used everybodys point of view. ... Read more

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Edited by Leslie Stephen. This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1887 edition by Smith, Elder, & Co., London. ... Read more

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A biography of the writer whose pioneer life on the American prairie became the basis for her "Little House" books. ... Read more