{"product_id":"the-black-hearts-truth-john-w-crowley-9780807865279","title":"The Black Heart's Truth: The Early Career of W. D. Howells","description":"\u003cp\u003eW. D. Howells once wrote to his friend Mark Twain of \"the black heart's-truth, which we all know of ourselves in our hearts\" -- the dark core of inner life that underlies \"the whity-brown truth of the pericardium, or the nice, whitened truth of the shirt front.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor Howells, a writer with a lifelong history of psychological disturbances, telling this \"black heart's-truth\" evinced his courage and imaginative spirit. John W. Crowley examines psychological clues in Howells' life in order to understand his art and to show how his writing was shaped by his neuroses. Applying the methods of literary psychology, Crowley reveals the submerged patterns and preoccupations that influenced Howells' early career.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs both a biographical and literary study, \u003ci\u003eThe Black Heart's Truth\u003c\/i\u003e offers a detailed analysis of Howells' childhood and adolescence, his career as a fiction writer, his marriage, and his breakdowns. In his youth, Howells suffered from a variety of neurotic symptoms, including severe phobias, and he himself spoke of his \"morbid boyhood,\" which culminated in his first breakdown at the age of seventeen. Using a Freudian perspective, Crowley shows how the events of these early years influenced Howells' fiction. His analysis of \u003ci\u003eTheir Wedding Journey\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Chance Acquaintance\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Foregone Conclusion\u003c\/i\u003e, \"Private Theatricals,\" \u003ci\u003eThe Lady of Aroostook\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Undiscovered Country\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Fearful Responsibility\u003c\/i\u003e, and the unpublished \"Geoffrey Winter\" culminates in a systematic study of Howells' first major novel, \u003ci\u003eA Modern Instance\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn his penetrating treatment of \u003ci\u003eA Modern Instance\u003c\/i\u003e, Crowley demonstrates how writing the novel effected Howells' 1881 breakdown and how, in turn, the breakdown affected the novel -- making it less than the great work it had promised to be. Crowley further argues that writing, as a means of emotional self-defense, enabled Howells to deal with his fear of the unconscious and allowed him some control over his complex impulses and problems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCrowley concludes that studying Howells' psychological problems will lead to a fuller understanding of the writer's strengths and limitations. Combining biography and psychoanalysis, this work illuminates the problematic and ultimately irreducible workings of a neurotic writer's imagination.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOriginally published in 1985.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John W. Crowley\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0807865273\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780807865279\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of North Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/27\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.69lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.48d","brand":"John W. Crowley","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48799432868095,"sku":"9780807865279","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-black-hearts-truth-john-w-crowley-9780807865279","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}