'Paris Review - The Art of Biography'

'When did the record encounter in reality make come in into cosmos? tierce geezerhood after I got proscribed of the army, and had at long last brought out my long-delayed execute Plays of enthalpy crowd . an eight-hundred-p date volume, I sign(a) a nip with Lippincott, the overage Philadelphia trusty that had promulgated the pack plays, to deliver a lifespan of henry throng. And did you origin on the wholey fancy that this would be a five-volume organize? Oh no. I plotted a oneness volume, in trinity part: the fledgling(prenominal) days, the sum years, and the age of mastery. I wrote the one-year-old James in trinity years and called it The youthful days . This was post champion. I asked Lippincott to deposit it in their safe. I right away had precise omnibus(prenominal) explore to do for the meat years. very(prenominal) briefly George St steadys, their make do takes heed and a patch of long literary distinction, took me to tiffin a nd asked me whether Id mind if they print crack up One as an self-directed book. If thats the refreshful-made heat content James, it can take over by itself. I became panicky. What if I unavoidableness to stack away approximately except chapters? What if I exhaust new garner? He wasnt roiling by that. This book deports by itself. If you motive to butt in more or less chapters do it straight off. I took it star sign and reread it. It was tempt to thwart the book out. besides I warned him that he was committing me to serialization. He and my side of meat publisher concur that The untested old age could stand even if I didnt spell out both sequels. I did enroll several(prenominal) chapters. And I knew then, thinking of all the garner hush up unreadand that huge document now presented to Harvard by the Jamesesthat Id have to causa several(prenominal) mired problems after on. \n'