Michener A Writer's Journey

James A. Michener was one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. In this full-length biography of both the private and the public Michener, Stephen J. May draws on Michener's complete papers as well as interviews with his friends and associates to reveal how an aspiring writer became a best-selling novelist. May follows the young Michener from an impoverished Pennsylvania childhood to the wartime Pacific, where he found inspiration for Tales of the South Pacific, a book that led to a string of other best sellers, including The Source, Centennial, Chesapeake, and The Covenant. Examining Michener's body of writing in its biographical and cultural contexts, May describes the creation of each novel and assesses the book's strengths and shortcomings. He also provides insight into Michener's personal life and unique working methods and explores the author's hypersensitivity to criticism, his egotism, and his failure on some occasions to acknowledge the contributions of his assistants. This probing biography establishes Michener's place in twentieth-century letters as it offers an unprecedented view of the man behind the typewriter.