My Dear Mother Stormy Boastful, and Tender Letters By Distinguished Sons--From Dostoevsky to Elvis

by Gordon, Karen Elizabeth; Johnson, Holly

• ISBN13: 9781565121218
• ISBN10: 156512121X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-01-10
• Publisher: Algonquin Books

Summary

This fascinating collection of letters between sons and mothers offers an intimate and unexpected glimpse into the mind and heart of the artist. Here are letters by over fifty writers, painters, and musicians, from boyhood to manhood--including Elvis Presley, Ezra Pound, E. B. White, Paul Cezanne, Henry James, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Richard Wagner, Victor Hugo, Jean Cocteau, Tennessee WIlliams, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Author Biography

Karen Elizabeth Gordon is the author of seven books, including her mischievous language handbooks The Deluxe Transitive Vampire, The New Well-Tempered Sentence, and Torn Wings and Faux Pas. She divides her time between California and France.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	xv
I. BOY	4	(14)
Oh! Mummie What a Life	4	(14)
E. E. CUMMINGS	4	(1)
AUBREY BEARDSLEY	5	(1)
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC	6	(1)
HONORE DE BALZAC	7	(1)
BENJAMIN BRITTEN	8	(1)
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD	9	(2)
EZRA POUND	11	(2)
WYNDHAM LEWIS	13	(5)
II. ADOLESCENT	18	(32)
Out of the Nest	18	(15)
WALLACE STEVENS	18	(2)
JOHN DOS PASSOS	20	(1)
WYNDHAM LEWIS	21	(2)
VICTOR HUGO	23	(1)
EVELYN WAUGH	24	(1)
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS	25	(3)
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART	28	(1)
WILLIAMS CARLOS WILLIAMS	29	(4)
School Days	33	(17)
GUSTAVE COURBET	33	(1)
NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS	34	(1)
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE	35	(2)
A. E. HOUSMAN	37	(2)
IVAN TURGENEV'S MOTHER	39	(1)
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI	40	(2)
FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY	42	(1)
E. B. WHITE	43	(1)
GEORGE ELIOT TO HER STEPSON	44	(6)
III. YOUNG MAN	50	(92)
A Room of One's Own	50	(10)
NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS	50	(2)
e. e. cummings	52	(1)
GUSTAVE COURBET	53	(1)
PAUL KLEE	54	(2)
WYNDHAM LEWIS	56	(1)
VLADIMIR NABOKOV	57	(3)
Grand and Other Tours, with Gossip	60	(14)
JOSEPH SPENCE	60	(2)
JACK KEROUAC	62	(1)
SARAH BERNHARDT TO HER SON	63	(3)
THOMAS MOORE	66	(2)
VIRGIL THOMSON	68	(2)
MARCEL PROUST	70	(4)
Linen, Clothes, Evasions of Marriage, Elopements	74	(13)
GUSTAVE COURBET	74	(1)
GUSTAVE MAHLER'S MOTHER	75	(1)
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC	76	(1)
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT	77	(2)
ANTHONY TROLLOPE	79	(1)
WYNDHAM LEWIS	80	(2)
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY	82	(5)
The Arts, Accomplishments, and Praise	87	(15)
VLADIMIR NABOKOV	87	(1)
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON	88	(2)
EZRA POUND	90	(1)
MARCEL PROUST'S MOTHER	91	(1)
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST	92	(2)
H. G. WELLS	94	(2)
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE	96	(1)
JEAN COCTEAU	97	(1)
OSCAR WILDE'S MOTHER	98	(1)
THOMAS MOORE	99	(1)
IVAN TURGENEV'S MOTHER	100	(2)
The Grand Tour Continues	102	(15)
JACK KEROUAC	102	(1)
MARK TWAIN	103	(2)
WILLIAM FAULKNER	105	(2)
HENRY JAMES	107	(2)
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT	109	(1)
THOMAS MOORE	110	(1)
JOSEPH SPENCE	111	(6)
High Intensity	117	(13)
RICHARD WAGNER	117	(2)
NIKOLAI GOGOL	119	(2)
MARCEL PROUST	121	(1)
MIKHAIL BULGAKOV	122	(2)
THOMAS MOORE	124	(1)
KAETHE KOLLWITZ TO HER SON	125	(1)
VANESSA BELL TO HER SISTER	126	(1)
JEAN COCTEAU	127	(3)
Sweet Effusions	130	(12)
A. E. HOUSMAN	130	(1)
ELVIS PRESLEY	131	(1)
MARCEL PROUST'S MOTHER	132	(1)
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC	133	(1)
NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS	134	(1)
LEO TOLSTOY	135	(7)
IV. MAN	142	(53)
Cross-Dressing, Clothes, Mother-Son Affinities	142	(12)
VANESSA BELL TO HER SON	142	(2)
PIER PAOLO PASOLINI	144	(2)
MAURICE RAVEL	146	(1)
ISAAC BABEL	147	(2)
A. E. HOUSMAN	149	(1)
ST.-JOHN PERSE	150	(4)
Vaunting	154	(14)
JAMES ABBOTT McNEILL WHISTLER	154	(2)
PAUL CEZANNE	156	(1)
T. S. ELIOT	157	(2)
ERNEST HEMINGWAY	159	(1)
GEORGE SAND TO HER SON	160	(1)
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS	161	(1)
ISAAC BABEL	162	(2)
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC	164	(4)
Travelogue	168	(10)
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE	168	(1)
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST	169	(1)
ST.-JOHN PERSE	170	(1)
A. E. HOUSMAN	171	(2)
HENRY JAMES	173	(2)
T. S. ELIOT	175	(3)
Festivities and Outings	178	(10)
ST.-JOHN PERSE	178	(1)
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC	179	(1)
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY	180	(1)
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST	181	(2)
T. S. ELIOT	183	(1)
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE'S MOTHER	184	(4)
Departures	188	(7)
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE	188	(2)
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW	190	(1)
JAMES BOSWELL	191	(1)
MARC CHAGALL	192	(3)
ROBERT LOWELL
EPILOGUE "SAILING HOME FROM RAPALLO"	195	(2)
FURTHER READING	197	(4)
CREDITS	201