Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan: A Biography of the Author and His Creation

Like millions of other readers and moviegoers, as a youngster the late Robert W. Fenton loved swinging through the jungle with Tarzan. As an adult his interest was revived when he bought Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs' original office-estate in Tarzana, California, and began writing a book about Burroughs. That 1967 work, originally titled The Big Swingers, in effect a biography both of ERB and of Tarzan, was the first full-scale, commercially published account of Burroughs' life and work.
Fenton's biography is now back in print as a wonderful source for a new generation of readers: letters, documents, synopses, lists of characters, and plots and themes that Burroughs used. The book also reveals ERB's ready observations on such issues as women's suffrage, prohibition, morality in Hollywood, and the Scopes trial in Tennessee.
A new foreword by George T. McWhorter and new photographs - there are 66 in all - are included.

Like millions of other readers and moviegoers, as a youngster the late Robert W. Fenton loved swinging through the jungle with Tarzan. As an adult his interest was revived when he bought Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs' original office-estate in Tarzana, California, and began writing a biography of Burroughs. Originally titled The Big Swingers, it was the first full-scale, commercially published account of ERB's life and work. Here is Fenton's 1967 biography, back in print, as a wonderful source for a new generation of readers. Burroughs' early years were far from promising--he was dropped from school, was undistinguished as a cavalryman at Fort Grant, lost out in gold mining, and had little success as a salesman. He knew nothing about writing, but decided to try it anyway--and created Tarzan, one of the most famous characters of all time. A new foreword by George T. McWhorter and new photographs--there are 66 in all--are included.