Carson McCullers, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1959

Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American writer. Her first novel explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts of the South. Her other writings deal with a wide scope of personal and social issues in other geographical locations. Carson McCullers photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1959 July 31. ... Carson McCullers photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1959 July 31. ... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... [[Media:Italic text]]{| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Outcast is an action-adventure computer game by Belgian developer Appeal, released in 1999 by publisher Infogrames. ... The U.S. Southern states or the South, also known colloquially as Dixie, constitute a distinctive region covering a large portion of the United States, with its own unique heritage, historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ...

Early life

She was born Carson McCullers in Columbus, Georgia in 1917 of middle class parentage. Her mother was the granddaughter of a plantation owner and Confederate War hero. Her father, similar to Wilbur Kelly in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, was a well-to-do watchmaker and jeweler of French Huguenot extraction. From the age of five she took piano lessons, and at the age of 15 she received a typewriter from her father. Columbus is a city in Muscogee County, Georgia, United States. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial)  States that seceded under CSA control  States and territories claimed by CSA without formal secession and/or control Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia... This The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter does not cite any references or sources. ... From the 16th to the 18th century the name Huguenot was applied to a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of France, historically known as the French Calvinists. ...

Two years later she was sent to the Juilliard School of Music in New York City to study piano, but never attended the school, having lost the money set aside for her tuition. McCullers worked in menial jobs and studied creative writing under Texas writer Dorothy Scarborough at night classes at Columbia University and Washington Square College. She decided to become a writer and published in 1936 an autobiographical piece, Wunderkind, in Story magazine. It depicted a musical prodigy's failure and adolescent insecurity and also appears in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe collection. The Juilliard School is a performing arts conservatory in New York City, informally but definitively identified as simply Juilliard, and most famous for its musically-trained alumni. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Dorothy Scarborough was a United States writer who wrote about Texas, folk culture, cotton farming, ghost stories and a womans life in the Midwest. ... Alma Mater Columbia University is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ... September 1964 issue Story was a magazine founded in 1931 by journalist-editor Whit Burnett and his first wife, Martha Foley, in Vienna. ...

Marriage and career

In 1935 she moved to North Carolina, and in 1937 she married a soldier and struggling writer, Reeves McCullers. There she wrote her first novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, in the Southern Gothic tradition. The title, suggested by McCullers's editor, was taken from Fiona MacLeod's poem 'The Lonely Hunter'. The novel itself was interpreted as an anti-fascist book. Altogether she published eight books. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), written at the age of twenty-three, Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941) and The Member of the Wedding (1946), are the most well-known. The novella The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1951) also depicts loneliness and the pain of unrequited love. She was an alumna of Yaddo in Saratoga, New York. 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Largest metro area Charlotte metro area Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (900 km)  - % water 9. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter does not cite any references or sources. ... Southern Gothic is a subgenre of the Gothic writing style, unique to American literature. ... William Sharp (12 September 1855 – 12 December 1905) was a Scottish writer, of poetry and literary biography in particular, who from 1893 wrote also as Fiona MacLeod, a pseudonym kept almost secret during his lifetime. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Reflections in a Golden Eye is a 1941 novel by Carson McCullers that deals with the theme of repressed homosexuality. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... The Member of the Wedding is a novel by Carson McCullers. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is a 1991 Merchant Ivory film, produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by Simon Callow, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Keith Carradine. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yaddo was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1900 by the financier Spencer Trask and his wife Katrina, herself a poet, Nichols Trask, and philanthropist George Foster Peabody. ...

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter was filmed in 1968 with Alan Arkin in the lead role. Reflections in a Golden Eye was directed by John Huston (1967), starring Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor. Some of the film was shot in New York City and on Long Island, where Huston was permitted to use an abandoned Army installation. Many of the interiors and some of the exteriors were done in Italy. "I first met Carson McCullers during the war when I was visiting Paulette Goddard and Burgess Meredith in upstate New York," said Huston in An Open Book (1980). "Carson lived nearby, and one day when Buzz and I were out for a walk she hailed us from her doorway. She was then in her early twenties, and had already suffered the first of a series of strokes. I remember her as a fragile thing with great shining eyes, and a tremor in her hand as she placed it in mine. It wasn't palsy, rather a quiver of animal timidity. But there was nothing timid or frail about the manner in which Carson McCullers faced life. And as her afflictions multiplied, she only grew stronger." Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American actor and director. ... Reflections in a Golden Eye is a 1941 novel by Carson McCullers that deals with the theme of repressed homosexuality. ... John Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director and actor. ... Marlon Brando, Jr. ... For other persons named Elizabeth Taylor, see Elizabeth Taylor (disambiguation). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the island in New York State. ... List of Six Feet Under episodes An Open Book is the fifth episode of the HBO original series, Six Feet Under. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Failed marriage and emotional struggles

McCullers's marriage was unsuccessful, with both parties having homosexual relationships; McCullers and Reeves separated in 1940 and divorced in 1941. After she separated from Reeves, she moved to New York to live with George Davis, the editor of Harper's Bazaar. In Brooklyn, McCullers became a member of the art commune February House. Among their friends were W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, and Paul and Jane Bowles. After World War II, McCullers lived mostly in Paris. Her close friends during these years included Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams. Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... For the 1960s musical group, see Harpers Bizarre. ... Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) IPA: ;[1], who signed his works W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet, regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. ... Britten redirects here. ... Paul Frederic Bowles (December 30, 1910 - November 18, 1999), was an American composer, author, and traveler. ... Jane Bowles, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1951 Jane Bowles, born Jane Auer (February 22, 1917 – May 4, 1973), was an American writer and playwright. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Truman Capote (pronounced ; 30 September 1924 – 25 August 1984) was an American writer whose stories, novels, plays, and non-fiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffanys (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a non-fiction novel. ... Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. ...

In 1945, McCullers and Reeves remarried. Three years later, she attempted suicide while depressed. In 1953, Reeves tried to convince McCullers to commit suicide with him, but she fled.^[1] After McCullers left him, Reeves killed himself in their Paris hotel with an overdose of sleeping pills. McCullers's bittersweet play, The Square Root of Wonderful (1957), was an attempt to examine these traumatic experiences. The Member of the Wedding (1946) describes the feelings of a young girl at her brother's wedding. The Broadway production of the novel had a successful run in 1950–51 and was produced by the Young Vic in London in September 2007. Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Member of the Wedding is a novel by Carson McCullers. ... The Young Vic is a theatre in the South Bank area of central London, which specialises in giving opportunities to young actors and directors. ...

McCullers suffered throughout her life from several illnesses and from alcoholism — she had contracted rheumatic fever at the age of fifteen and suffered from strokes since her youth. By the age of 31, her left side was entirely paralyzed. She died in Nyack, New York, on September 29, 1967, after a brain hemorrhage and the resultant stroke. McCullers dictated her unfinished autobiography, Illumination and Night Glare (1999), during her final months. Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease which may develop after a Group A streptococcal infection (such as strep throat or scarlet fever) and can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. ... For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ... The Tappan Zee Bridge from Nyack Pier Nyack is a village in Rockland County, New York, United States. ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ...

Criticism

"Miss McCullers and perhaps Mr. Faulkner are the only writers since the death of D. H. Lawrence with an original poetic sensibility. I prefer Miss McCullers to Mr. Faulkner because she writes more clearly; I prefer her to D. H. Lawrence because she has no message." – Graham Greene

"Moving, yes, but a minor author. And broken by illness at such a young age." – Arthur Miller

Although McCullers's oeuvre is often described as "Southern Gothic," she produced her famous works after leaving the South. Her eccentric characters suffer from loneliness that is interpreted with deep empathy. In a discussion with the Irish critic and writer Terence de Vere White she said: "Writing, for me, is a search for God." Gore Vidal praised her work as "one of the few satisfying achievements of our second-rate culture." Other critics have variously detected tragicomic or political elements in her writing. William Cuthbert Faulkner (born William Falkner), (September 25, 1897–July 6, 1962) was an American author. ... David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer of the 20th century, whose prolific and diverse output included novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism, and personal letters. ... This article is about the writer. ... Arthur Bob Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. ... Southern Gothic is a subgenre of the Gothic writing style, unique to American literature. ... Historic Southern United States. ... Loneliness is an emotional state in which a person experiences a powerful feeling of emptiness and isolation. ... Not to be confused with Pity, Sympathy, or Compassion. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... This article is about the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born October 3, 1925) (pronounced and , ) is an American author of novels, stage plays, screenplays, and essays, and the scion of a prominent political family. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ... Tragicomedy refers to fictional works that blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... Write redirects here. ...

Cultural References

McCullers narration of The Member of the Wedding was used by Jarvis Cocker on his debut album, Jarvis. It forms the introduction to the song Big Julie and consists of an edited (or slightly mangled) version of the opening lines of the book: Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963, in Sheffield, England) is an English musician, best known for fronting the band Pulp. ...

"It happened that green and crazy summer. It was a summer when for a long time she had not been a member. She belonged to no club and she was a member of nothing in the world. And she was afraid."

Sue Denim (of Robots in Disguise) lists Carson McCullers under her "loves and influences" on the Robots' MySpace page, and, in her solo project Sue and the Unicorn, Denim references McCullers along with other writers in the song "For JT and Carson and Emily."

The Anniversary, a Kansas City band who released two albums through Vagrant Records, titled a song "Heart is a Lonely Hunter" on their album Designing a Nervous Breakdown.

Nanci Griffith's album Clock Without Hands is, in part, inspired by McCullers' novel. Depiction of Nanci Griffith on the cover of her album Flyer Nanci Caroline Griffith, (born July 6, 1953 in Seguin, Texas) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas. ...

Works

Novels

• The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
• Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941)
• The Member of the Wedding (1946)
• Clock Without Hands (1961)

This The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... The Member of the Wedding is a novel by Carson McCullers. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other works

• The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1951), a short story collection comprising:
  • a novella of the same title, later made into a Merchant Ivory Film,
  • Wunderkind - (Story, 1936)
  • The Jockey - (The New Yorker, 1941)
  • Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland - (The New Yorker, 1941)
  • The Sourner - (Mademoiselle, 1950)
  • A Domestic Dilemma - (New York Post magazine section, 1941)
  • A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud - (Harper's Bazaar, 1942)
• The Square Root of Wonderful (1958), a play.
• Sweet as a Pickle and Clean as a Pig (1964), a collection of poems.
• The Mortgaged Heart (1972), a posthumous collection of writings, edited by her sister Rita.
• Illumination and Night Glare (1999), her unfinished autobiography, published nearly 30 years after her death.

Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. ... The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is a 1991 Merchant Ivory film, produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by Simon Callow, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Keith Carradine. ... September 1964 issue Story was a magazine founded in 1931 by journalist-editor Whit Burnett and his first wife, Martha Foley, in Vienna. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see New Yorker. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Mademoiselle was an influential womens magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... For the 1960s musical group, see Harpers Bizarre. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ...

Collections

• Complete Novels, Carlos L. Dews, ed. (New York: The Library of America, 2001) ISBN 978-1-93108203-7.

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Carson McCullers

• The Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians
• The Carson McCullers Project
• Two different critical views of McCullers:
  • The Tragicomic Vision in the Novels of Carson McCullers
  • Marxism in Carson McCullers' Strangled South
• Carson McCullers: A Life
• Online text of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
• Online text of The Member of the Wedding
• Online text of Reflections in a Golden Eye