In this new study of the novels of John Hawkes, author Lesley Marx has brought to light insights from the three novels Hawkes has published in the last ten years, as well as from his other works. According to Marx, all three of these new novels continue to attest to the fertility of Hawkes's imagination and the fine crafting of his prose. But at least two of the new works - Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade and Sweet William: A Memoir of Old Horse - also reveal an expansive and transformative vision that celebrates the shifting and fluid possibilities of authority, writing, storytelling, and gender.
Item 1: Author's last poems and letters on love and creativity before he turned to writing fiction. Written mostly at Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, in the five months preceding his marriage to Sophie Tazewell. One of two photocopies made by the author. "No other photocopies will be made." Item 2: Typewritten memo to Mr. Hawkes from Thomas J. Wilson regarding a book idea on the subject of e.e. cummings, 16 July 1948. This was laid into a copy of The Harvard Wake, Spring 1946 issue, the focus of which was on e.e. cummings. Item 3: Prospectus for the John Hawkes collection from Clouds Hill Books. Includes letter to Samuel Hough from Darren Overty regarding the prospectus and an article about collector Carter Burden who collected the John Hawkes books as part of his larger collection of 20th century American literature, 18 October 2000.
"John Hawkes (author of thirteen previous novels, including The Lime Twig, Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade, Virginie, and The Blood Oranges) is one of American fiction's most honored, irascible - and most unpredictable - talents. Now Hawkes delivers what is destined to become his most popular novel, the autobiography of a wise, witty, unforgettable...horse." "Sweet William is fresh and lively, a completely compelling reading experience, and a truly human, humane tale. In this anthropomorphic odyssey, Hawkes takes us into the rough world of Old Horse from his Dickensian youth (marked by the death of his beloved dam), through his years on the racetrack of life, to his relationship with Master, the man whose kindness transforms his beastly life." "Old Horse is a figure whose trek through the world's multitude of shifting circumstances symbolizes all the tests and challenges faced by every beast. Hawkes brings real heart and moments of savage humor to this equine saga."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved