FRANK HARRIS. TWAYNE'S ENGLISH AUTHORS SERIES 103. de Pearsall, Robert Brainard

Twayne, New York, 1970. 196 pp, 8vo (8 1/4" H), hard cover in dust jacket. "Frank Harris was one of the strangest and yet one of the finest of the transatlantic men of letters. His recent fame has been based on his monumental book of reminiscences, 'My Life and Loves', w hich was sold on the underground market for many years, and was issued in a blaze of publicity by Grove Press in 1963....Pearsall's book will go far toward rectifying the wrong image of Harris as a crook, philanderer, and literary freak. T h e H a r r i s he presents is charged with finer accomplishments. He was one of the ablest editors in London, and one of the finest conversationalists. He was the friend of poets, novelists, critics, scientists, and statesmen. His work as a bi og ra p hi ca l es sa yi st made George Bernard Shaw call him 'a greater Plutarch'. His stories were anthologized everywhere, and his criticism could make or break a new reputation. And best of all, his own creative works possessed, and do to this da y, a qui te ma rve llo us freshness, skill, and modernity. At several times in his life, Harris reached peaks of financial and political success. That he systematically threw away all such successes, and returned to study and to writing, is pa rt o f h is cha rac ter as pres ent ed by Pearsall. For Harris was above all a writer, and it was to writing that he dedicated his best thought and finest energy." Dust jacket has heavy fading to spine color - black lettering still very legible, ligh t br own ing, mino r wr inkl ing a t to p of spine. Near Fine/Very Good-.