NationMaster - Encyclopedia: William Styron

William Clark Styron, Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an eminent American novelist and essayist. Image File history File links William_styron. ... is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location in the State of Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States State Virginia County Independent city Incorporated 1896 Government - Mayor Joe Frank Area - City 119. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of Marthas Vineyard. ... This article is about work. ... is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... An essayist is an author who writes compositions which can be about any particular subject. ...

Before the publication of his memoir Darkness Visible in 1990, Styron was best known for his novels which included Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness is U.S. writer William Styrons memoir about his descent into depression and attempted suicide, and the triumph of recovery. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...

Styron's influence deepened and his readership expanded with the publication of Darkness Visible. This memoir was a description of the author's devastating descent into depression, the "despair beyond despair." By examining an illness that affects millions but is still widely misunderstood, Styron offered an intimate and very personal portrait of the agony of this ordeal, revealing the anguish of a mind "desperate unto death". Lie Down in Darkness is a 1951 novel by American novelist William Styron. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Confessions of Nat Turner is a 1967 novel by William Styron. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Nat, commonly called Nat Turner, (October 2, 1800 â€“ November 11, 1831) was an American slave whose slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, was the most remarkable instance of black resistance to enslavement in the antebellum southern United States. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Slave redirects here. ... For other uses, see Sophies Choice. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... â€œShoahâ€ redirects here. ... In everyday language depression refers to any downturn in mood, which may be relatively transitory and perhaps due to something trivial. ...

Early years

William Styron was born in the Hilton Village historic district^[1] in Newport News, Virginia, less than a hundred miles from the site of Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, later the source for his most famous and controversial novel. Though Styron’s paternal grandparents had been slave owners, his Northern mother and liberal Southern father gave him a broad perspective on race relations unusual for his generation. Styron’s childhood was a difficult one: his father, a shipyard engineer, suffered from clinical depression, which Styron himself would later experience, and his mother died of cancer before his fourteenth birthday. Hilton Village located in Warwick County on the outskirts of the independent city of Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia was the United States first Federal war-housing project established during World War I. The planned community was jointly sponsored by the U.S. Shipping Board and... Location in the State of Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States State Virginia County Independent city Incorporated 1896 Government - Mayor Joe Frank Area - City 119. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Historic Southern United States. ... On the Threshold of Eternity. ... Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these to spread, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion, or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis (where cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system). ...

Styron attended Hilton Elementary School until third grade. His father soon sent the increasingly rebellious Styron to Christchurch School, an Episcopal college-preparatory school in the Tidewater region of Virginia. Styron once said, "But of all the schools I attended ... only Christchurch ever commanded something more than mere respect - which is to say, my true and abiding affection." Hilton Elementary School is an elementary school in Newport News, Virginia. ... Christchurch School is a college preparatory school in Christchurch, Virginia, founded in 1921 by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. ... This article is about the Episcopal Church in the United States. ... A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school, or prep school) is a private secondary school (or high school) designed to prepare a student for higher education. ... The Tidewater region of Virginia is the southeastern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia, centered on Hampton Roads. ...

On graduation, Styron enrolled in Davidson College, but eventually dropped out to join the Marines toward the end of World War II. Though Styron was made a lieutenant, the Japanese surrendered before Styron’s ship left San Francisco. Styron then enrolled in Duke University, which would later grant him a B.A. in English; here Styron also published his first fiction, a short story heavily influenced by William Faulkner, in an anthology of student work. Davidson College is a private liberal arts college for 1,700 students in Davidson, North Carolina, USA. Both the town and college were named for Brigadier General William Lee Davidson, a Revolutionary War commander. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. ... 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 TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Duke University is a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. ... A B.A. issued from the University of Tennessee. ... English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S., Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, India, South Africa, and the Middle East, among other areas), English linguistics (including English phonetics, phonology... William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 â€“ July 6, 1962) was an American novelist and poet whose works feature his native state of Mississippi. ...

First novels

After his 1947 graduation, Styron took an editing position with McGraw-Hill in New York City. Styron later recalled the misery of this work in an autobiographical passage of Sophie’s Choice, and after provoking his employers into firing him, he set about his first novel in earnest. Three years later, he published the novel, the story of a dysfunctional Virginia family culminating in a young woman’s suicide, as Lie Down in Darkness (1951). The novel received overwhelming critical acclaim, including the prestigious Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, but Styron’s recall into the military owing to the Korean War prevented him from immediately accepting this award. After his 1952 discharge for eye problems, Styron transformed his experience at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina into his short novel, The Long March, published serially the following year. Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... Lie Down in Darkness is a 1951 novel by American novelist William Styron. ... The Rome Prize is a prestigious American award made annually, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists (working in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Design, Historic Preservation and Conservation, Literature, Musical Composition, or Visual Arts) and to 15 scholars (working in Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and early Modern, or Modern Italian Studies). ... The American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. ... American Academy of Arts and Letters is an organization whose goal is to foster, assist, and sustain an interest in American literature, music, and art. ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States Medical staff: Denmark, Australia, Italy, Norway, Sweden Communist states: Democratic Peopleâ€™s Republic of Korea, Peoples Republic of China, Soviet Union Commanders... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Styron then spent an extended period in Europe. In Paris, he became friends with Romain Gary, George Plimpton, Peter Matthiessen, James Baldwin, James Jones and Irwin Shaw, among others. The group founded the celebrated Paris Review in 1953. Romain Gary (May 8, 1914 â€“ December 2, 1980) was a French novelist, film director, World War II pilot, and diplomat. ... George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 â€“ September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. ... Peter Matthiessen (born May 22, 1927 in New York City) is an American naturalist and author of historical fiction and non-fiction. ... James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 â€“ November 30, 1987) was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, and essayist, best known for his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain. ... James Jones (November 6, 1921 â€“ May 9, 1977) is an American author most famous for his explorations of World War II and its aftermath. ... Irwin Shaw (nÃ© Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff, February 27, 1913 - May 16, 1984) was an American Jewish playwright, screen writer and author. ... The Paris Review, which is actually based in New York, is a literary magazine started in 1953 by Peter Matthiessen, Thomas H. Guinzburg, and Harold L. Humes, and edited until his death in 2003 by George Plimpton. ...

The year 1953 was eventful for Styron in another way. Finally able to take advantage of his Rome Prize, he traveled to Italy. At the American Academy, he renewed an acquaintance with a young Baltimore poet, Rose Burgunder, to whom he had been introduced the previous fall at Johns Hopkins University. They were married in Rome in the spring of 1953. The Playhouse 90 episode The Long March (1958) was based on his aforementioned novelet (1953). Flag Seal Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town, B-more Motto: Get In On It (formerly The City That Reads and The Greatest City in America; BELIEVE is not the official motto but rather a specific campaign) Location Location of Baltimore in Maryland Coordinates , Government Country State County United... The Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, is a private institution of higher learning located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. ... Playhouse 90 is the name of a 90-minute long dramatic television series that ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961. ...

Styron’s experiences during this period would later be recalled in Set This House on Fire (1960), a novel about intellectual American expatriates on the Riviera. The novel received, at best, mixed reviews, with several critics savaging it for what they described as its melodrama and undisciplined structure. The novel received a far different reception in Europe, however, where its translation achieved best-seller status, far outselling the American edition, which was itself considered a success by its publisher. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Quai des Ã‰tats-Unis in Nice on the French Riviera at night. ... Poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ...

The Nat Turner controversy

Above the door to his studio, Styron posted a quotation from Gustave Flaubert: Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 â€“ May 8, 1880) was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. ...

A dictum of sorts, Flaubert's words would prove prophetic over the intervening years. The response by others to Styron's next two published novels, published between 1967 and 1979, would indeed be violent. Wounded by his first truly harsh reviews for Set This House On Fire, Styron spent years researching and composing his next novel, the fictitious memoirs of the historical Nat Turner. During this period, James Baldwin was his guest for several months, composing his novel Another Country. In common law legal terminology a dictum (plural dicta) is any statement that forms a part of the judgment of a court, in particular a court whose decisions have value as precedent under the doctrine of stare decisis. ... James Baldwin may refer to: James Baldwin (editor and author) (1841â€“1925) James Baldwin (writer) (1924â€“1987) James Baldwin (baseball player) (born 1971) J. Baldwin (born 1934), industrial designer, author, educator James Mark Baldwin (1861â€“1934), philosopher and psychologist Category: ... Another Country is a 1962 novel by James Baldwin. ...

Ironically, Another Country would be criticized by some African-American groups for black author Baldwin’s choice of a white protagonist, leading Baldwin to foresee even greater problems ahead for Styron; “Bill’s going to catch it from both sides” he told an interviewer immediately following the novel’s 1967 publication. Baldwin’s words also proved prophetic. Despite public defenses of Styron by both Baldwin and Ralph Ellison, a large group of African-American critics reviled Styron’s portrayal of Turner as racist stereotyping. Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... This article is about the color. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Ralph Ellison (March 1, 1914[1] â€“ April 16, 1994) was a scholar and writer. ... For the term used in computing, see stereotype (UML). ...

Particularly controversial was a passage in which Turner fantasizes about raping a white woman, which several critics pointed to as a dangerous perpetuation of a traditional Southern justification for lynching. On the other hand, many critics have argued that despite his flaws, Turner remains a strong, sympathetic, and heroic figure throughout Styron’s novel. Despite the controversy, the novel became a runaway critical and financial success, eventually winning the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the William Dean Howells Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Lynch may be: One of the fourteen tribes of Galway Colonel Charles Lynch, an officer on the Patriot side of the American Revolutionary War David Lynch, American film director David Lynch (musician), American Jazz musician Evanna Lynch, Irish actress Gerard Lynch, United States Federal Court judge Jessica Lynch (fl. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ...

Later works

Though Styron's next novel, Sophie's Choice (1979), could hardly match the fervor that followed Confessions of Nat Turner, his decision to portray a non-Jewish victim of the Holocaust sparked a minor debate of its own. The novel, which tells the story of the Polish-Catholic Auschwitz survivor Sophie, her brilliant but menacing Jewish lover Nathan, and her young admirer Stingo, won the 1980 National Book Award and was a nationwide bestseller. A 1982 film version was nominated for five Academy Awards, with Meryl Streep winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Sophie. For other uses, see Sophies Choice. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Sophies Choice is a 1982 film that tells the story of a beautiful Polish immigrant, Sophie, and her tempestuous lover who share a boarding house with a young writer in Brooklyn. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... Mary Louise Streep, mostly known as Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. ... The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the awards given to actresses working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...

William Styron was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca in 1985. That year, he suffered from a serious depression which he would later recall in his popular memoir Darkness Visible (1990), in which (in the experience for many readers) he was (arguably) able to describe his descent into madness from the inside. His novel Shadrach was filmed, under the same title, in 1998, co-directed by his daughter Susanna Styron. His other two daughters are also artists - Paola, an internationally acclaimed modern dancer, and Alexandra, a novelist ["All The Finest Girls" (2001)]. Styron's son, Thomas, is a professor of clinical psychology at Yale University. The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca (Cino Del Duca World Prize) is a major international literary award established in 1969 in France by Simone Del Duca (1912-2004) to continue the work of her late husband, publishing magnate Cino Del Duca (1899-1967). ... In everyday language depression refers to any downturn in mood, which may be relatively transitory and perhaps due to something trivial. ... Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness is U.S. writer William Styrons memoir about his descent into depression and attempted suicide, and the triumph of recovery. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Though used by Christians and Jews in recent times because of its Biblical heritage, Shadrach is a Babylonian name, and means command of Aku. Aku was the ancient Babylonian moon god, the equivalent of the Assyrian god Sin. ...

Styron's other works include the play In the Clap Shack (1973) and a collection of his nonfiction pieces, This Quiet Dust (1982). For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

Styron died from pneumonia on November 1, 2006, at the age of 81 in Martha's Vineyard. This article is about human pneumonia. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of Marthas Vineyard. ...

References

Quotes

Bibliography

Lie Down in Darkness is a 1951 novel by American novelist William Styron. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Confessions of Nat Turner is a 1967 novel by William Styron. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Sophies Choice. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

Soucres and External links

Categories: 1925 births | 2006 deaths | American novelists | American tax resisters | Duke University alumni | National Book Award winners | Members of The American Academy of Arts and Letters | United States National Medal of Arts recipients | People from Newport News, Virginia | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners | Virginia writers | People with major depressive disorder Christopher Lehmann-Haupt was, for many years, the senior daily book reviewer for the New York Times. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location in the State of Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States State Virginia County Independent city Incorporated 1896 Government - Mayor Joe Frank Area - City 119. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of Marthas Vineyard. ...

Contents

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