Gorra’s Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece (2012) is a critical biography that uses its commentary on James’s 1881 novel, The Portrait of a Lady, as a point of entry not only into James’s life but also into the literary culture of the late nineteenth century. It was praised by Cynthia Ozick for presenting its subject with all “the sensuous immediacy of his quotidian reality: the rooms he lived in, the streets he trod, and the very texture of his inmost sensibility…. In Gorra's ingenious and capacious reading, James stands before us with a clarity of seeing and feeling given to no previous biographer.” [1]
His other books include The English Novel at Mid-Century (1990), an account of British fiction in the generation of Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell, which began as a doctoral thesis at Stanford University, where it won the English Department’s Alden Dissertation Prize. It was followed by a study of the postcolonial novel, After Empire: Scott, Naipaul, Rushdie (1997), and The Bells in Their Silence: Travels through Germany (2004), which grew out of a sabbatical year spent in that country. Edited volumes include The Portable Conrad and the Norton Critical Edition of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.
At Smith College, Gorra’s classes concentrate on fiction from the nineteenth century to the present day, including courses on the contemporary novel, Faulkner, and George Eliot’s Middlemarch.
Backgroundedit
Gorra was born in New London, Connecticut, and grew up along the Connecticut shore, graduating from Waterford High School in 1975. While in school he became active in science fiction fandom, and he published several issues of his own fanzines, Banshee and Random, between 1973 and 1975.[5][6]
^. Archived from the original on 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
^"Michael Gorra" at John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation website
^John Williams (January 14, 2012). "National Book Critics Circle Names 2012 Award Finalists". New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
^Locke, Dave. "Dialog With Two Fans: A Chat With Eric Mayer" Pixel 12 (April 2007), pp. 3, 10
^Catalog of M. Horvat Collection of Science Fiction Fanzines; Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries
External linksedit
Review of Cynthia Ozick's Dictation
Review of Alice McDermott's Child of My Heart
Review of Alice Munro's The Love of a Good Woman
On Reading Liebling
On J.M. Coetzee’s Diary of a Bad Year
On international travel
January 01, 1970
michael, gorra, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, ta. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Michael Gorra news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2017 Learn how and when to remove this message Michael Gorra born 17 February 1957 is an American professor of English and literature currently serving as the Mary Augusta Jordan Professor of English Language and Literature at Smith College where he has taught since 1985 Contents 1 Writing and teaching 2 Background 3 References 4 External linksWriting and teaching editGorra s Portrait of a Novel Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece 2012 is a critical biography that uses its commentary on James s 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady as a point of entry not only into James s life but also into the literary culture of the late nineteenth century It was praised by Cynthia Ozick for presenting its subject with all the sensuous immediacy of his quotidian reality the rooms he lived in the streets he trod and the very texture of his inmost sensibility In Gorra s ingenious and capacious reading James stands before us with a clarity of seeing and feeling given to no previous biographer 1 His other books include The English Novel at Mid Century 1990 an account of British fiction in the generation of Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell which began as a doctoral thesis at Stanford University where it won the English Department s Alden Dissertation Prize It was followed by a study of the postcolonial novel After Empire Scott Naipaul Rushdie 1997 and The Bells in Their Silence Travels through Germany 2004 which grew out of a sabbatical year spent in that country Edited volumes include The Portable Conrad and the Norton Critical Edition of William Faulkner s As I Lay Dying Gorra s essays and reviews appear frequently in such journals as the Times Literary Supplement the New York Times Book Review The Hudson Review and the Daily Beast His travel essays have twice been included in the annual volumes of The Best American Travel Writing In 2001 Gorra received the Balakian award from the National Book Critics Circle Award for his work as a reviewer 2 Other honors include grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship for his first year s work on Portrait of a Novel 3 Portrait of a Novel was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award Biography 4 At Smith College Gorra s classes concentrate on fiction from the nineteenth century to the present day including courses on the contemporary novel Faulkner and George Eliot s Middlemarch Background editGorra was born in New London Connecticut and grew up along the Connecticut shore graduating from Waterford High School in 1975 While in school he became active in science fiction fandom and he published several issues of his own fanzines Banshee and Random between 1973 and 1975 5 6 He earned his A B at Amherst College in 1979 and a Ph D at Stanford University He currently resides in Northampton Massachusetts with his wife the art historian Brigitte Buettner and his daughter References edit W W Norton amp Company Inc All Past All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists Page 2 National Book Critics Circle website Archived from the original on 2011 03 16 Retrieved 2011 07 20 Michael Gorra at John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation website John Williams January 14 2012 National Book Critics Circle Names 2012 Award Finalists New York Times Retrieved January 15 2013 Locke Dave Dialog With Two Fans A Chat With Eric Mayer Pixel 12 April 2007 pp 3 10 Catalog of M Horvat Collection of Science Fiction Fanzines Special Collections Department University of Iowa LibrariesExternal links editFaculty website at Smith College Introduction to The Portable Conrad Review of Cynthia Ozick s Dictation Review of Alice McDermott s Child of My Heart Review of Alice Munro s The Love of a Good Woman On Reading Liebling On J M Coetzee s Diary of a Bad Year On international travel Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Michael Gorra amp oldid 1185150601, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
