Count No 'Count: Flashbacks to Faulkner - Hardcover

Wasson, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0878051627 ISBN 13: 9780878051625

Publisher: Univ Pr of Mississippi, 1983

Synopsis

Coming home to Oxford, Mississippi, in 1918 after a stint in the Royal Flying Corps, young William Faulkner was arty and dandified. He sometimes was seen in his airman's uniform, and he affected English manners. His pose amused some of his townsmen, and joking behind his back, they called him "The Count" and "Count No 'Count."

During this period Ben Wasson met Faulkner at the University of Mississippi, where both were students. Their interest in art and literature drew them together. Later Wasson became Faulkner's first literary agent, as well as an adviser and sounding board. In New York Wasson edited a Faulkner manuscript into a readable length. It was published as Sartoris. Also, Wasson helped Faulkner to place The Sound and the Fury with a new York publisher. Their friendship lasted for more than thirty years as their paths crossed and recrossed in New York, Hollywood, and Mississippi.

In Count No 'Count Wasson muses over this long and close relationship in anecdotal accounts which he calls flashbacks.

Wasson depicts a Faulkner who is humorous, occasionally naive, aggressive, and loving. At times he is the most courteous of gentlemen. At other times he is a tragic figure attempting to deal with griefs and disappointment by lapsing into alcoholic binges. The reader will discern a Faulkner whose artistic and creative nature produced sometimes bizarre behavior and destructive drives for achievement.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

A touching memoir of Faulkner, written by his first literary agent and one of his closest friends

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ Pr of Mississippi
• Publication date: 1983
• ISBN 10: 0878051627
• ISBN 13: 9780878051625
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 156