Group of typed and photocopied documents for Harry Crews's file in Gale Research Company's biographical index of Contemporary Authors, with several annotations in Crews's hand

[CREWS, Harry] Gale Research Company

Published by Gale Research Company, [Detroit], 1970

About this Item

21 leaves in total, stapled at the top left, in two groups; one of five, the other sixteen. The first group contains a photocopied cover sheet containing biographical details of author Harry Crews for inclusion in his entry in "Contemporary Authors," with four lines of holograph notations by Crews, and initialled by him at the end. Printed on the sheet is the title of his current "Work in Progress," called "Don't Sing My Name." Crews encircles the title and writes: "This novel is now called 'This Thing Don't Lead to Heaven' and will be published by William Morrow next month; it will appear April 1st to be exact. H. C." On the verso of this document, a stamp reads "Received by mail March 11, 1970." The third leaf, printed recto/verso, is the original printed form for biographical information, which has a stamp reading "Rec'd Jun 21 1968." Crews has signed his name at the end, and dated it 6/18/68. This was only months after the publication of his first book, The Gospel Singer, and about six months before his second book, Naked in Garden Hills, whose publication date he lists on the form as January 1969. The rest of the leaves consist of pasted-on news clippings relating to Crews, mostly reviews of his first two books. These were no doubt collected, cataloged, and organized by Gale. The glue has come loose on nearly all of these clippings, though they all are retained, and nothing appears to be missing. Of chief interest, of course, is Crews' hand correction to the "Work in Progress" detail, noting what would, in fact, be the final title for his third novel, which has become one of his least common early books in the trade. The publication of "This Thing Don't Lead to Heaven" also marked a turning point in his career. The novel, many reviewers felt, was too similar in tone and content to his first two books, and his friend Jim Landis encouraged him to think of those three books as a trilogy, more or less in an effort to get Crews to write about more varied people and subjects. In this spirit, Crews fired his agent Bert Cochran (the one listed on this form), and hired John Hawkins, who would represent him for the rest of his career (see Geltner, Ted: Blood, Bone, and Marrow: A Biography of Harry Crews. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2016, pp. 136-7). A great piece of early ephemera, which sheds light on the young and newly successful author's early professional life.

Seller Inventory # 11605

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Group of typed and photocopied documents for Harry Crews's file in Gale Research Company's biographical index of Contemporary Authors, with several annotations in Crews's hand
• Publisher: Gale Research Company, [Detroit]
• Publication Date: 1970
• Condition: Very good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • American literature