Sarah Churchwell
Author of Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby
About the Author
Works by Sarah Churchwell
Associated Works
Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past (2022) — Contributor — 281 copies, 5 reviews
The Sea, the Sea; A Severed Head: Introduction by Sarah Churchwell (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series) (2016) — Introduction — 64 copies, 2 reviews
Middlebrow Moderns: Popular American Women Writers of the 1920s (2003) — Contributor, some editions — 17 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Churchwell, Sarah
- Legal name
- Churchwell, Sarah Bartwell
- Birthdate
- 1970
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Vassar College (AB|English literature)
Princeton University (MA|English and American Literature)
Princeton University (PhD|English and American Literature) - Occupations
- university professor (American literature and the public understanding of the humanities)
- Organizations
- London University (School of Advanced Studies|professor of American literature and the public understanding of the humanities)
- Awards and honors
- Orwell Prize for Journalism
Writer in Residence at the Eccles Centre for American Studies (2015) - Agent
- Peter Robinson
- Short biography
- Sarah Bartlett Churchwell (born May 27, 1970) is a professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK. Her expertise is in 20th- and 21st-century American literature and cultural history, especially the 1920s and 1930s. She has appeared on British television and radio and has been a judge for the Booker Prize, the Baillie Gifford Prize, the Women's Prize for Fiction, and the David Cohen Prize for Literature. She is the director of the Being Human festival and the author of three books. In April 2021, she was long listed for the Orwell Prize for Journalism. [from: Wikipedia]
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Virginia, USA
- Places of residence
- Winnetka, Illinois, USA
London, England, UK - Map Location
- USA
Members
Reviews
I recently read "The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells" by Sarah Churchwell and was thoroughly impressed by the depth and insight of the book. Churchwell, a professor of American literature and cultural history, offers a nuanced and provocative analysis of "Gone with the Wind" and its enduring appeal in American culture. She examines how the novel and its film adaptation have shaped and reflected America's ideas about race, gender, and history, and how they have show more perpetuated harmful myths and lies about the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement.
One of the strengths of "The Wrath to Come" is Churchwell's writing, which is clear and engaging, making the book accessible to a wide audience. She presents a well-researched and thought-provoking analysis of the novel and its cultural significance, drawing on a range of sources and perspectives. The book is particularly relevant in today's political climate, as debates about race and history continue to be at the forefront of the national conversation. Overall, "The Wrath to Come" is a must-read for anyone interested in American literature and cultural history, and for anyone looking to better understand the enduring appeal and impact of "Gone with the Wind". show less
One of the strengths of "The Wrath to Come" is Churchwell's writing, which is clear and engaging, making the book accessible to a wide audience. She presents a well-researched and thought-provoking analysis of the novel and its cultural significance, drawing on a range of sources and perspectives. The book is particularly relevant in today's political climate, as debates about race and history continue to be at the forefront of the national conversation. Overall, "The Wrath to Come" is a must-read for anyone interested in American literature and cultural history, and for anyone looking to better understand the enduring appeal and impact of "Gone with the Wind". show less
I love true crime, and I love The Great Gatsby (I think its concluding sentences are honestly some of the finest ever written), so that I would love this book seemed like a given. And I did love this book, even more than I expected.
Churchwell explores the fascinating, heartbreaking, scandalous. and, yes, careless, lives of the Fitzgeralds. From Scott and Zelda's seemingly never-ending alcohol consumption and partying, to Scott's deep felt disappointment at the lack of commercial success for show more what he considered his finest writing, and Zelda's descent into a series of heartrending breakdowns, Churchwell makes their world and the time period they lived in come alive in vivid color.
Churchwell also expertly weaves in the still-unsolved Hall-Mills murder case, and how its scandal, adultery, and immediacy as (tabloid) newspaper fodder may have influenced The Great Gatsby.
History, mystery, and literary theory all combine to make for a fascinating non-fiction read. show less
Churchwell explores the fascinating, heartbreaking, scandalous. and, yes, careless, lives of the Fitzgeralds. From Scott and Zelda's seemingly never-ending alcohol consumption and partying, to Scott's deep felt disappointment at the lack of commercial success for show more what he considered his finest writing, and Zelda's descent into a series of heartrending breakdowns, Churchwell makes their world and the time period they lived in come alive in vivid color.
Churchwell also expertly weaves in the still-unsolved Hall-Mills murder case, and how its scandal, adultery, and immediacy as (tabloid) newspaper fodder may have influenced The Great Gatsby.
History, mystery, and literary theory all combine to make for a fascinating non-fiction read. show less
Draws interesting parallels between the sensibilities found in the book (and its writer) and broader currents running through America from Reconstruction to Trump. Looks at the histories of the novel and the film and fits them into larger narratives about the "lost cause" and the history of homegrown fascist groups. It could have been a little shorter and her speaking style (in the audio book) is a little exhausting, but overall the book tries to make a broad argument about where the country show more finds itself today and how similar it looks to where it found itself in the 1860s. show less
This ambitious book about the origins of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a tour de force account of the US in the 1920s. Not only did Fitzgerald give a name to the time, the Jazz Age, he lived it and wrote about it. He was the chronicler of the era.
I am a Fitzgerald fan but anyone interested in literature, the 1920s and history will enjoy this book. Sarah Churchwell combines biographical details of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s hedonistic alcohol-fuelled and chaotic lives, the days show more of (alcohol) Prohibition, and a double murder that dominated headlines for years. She brings together these disparate elements into a cohesive and comprehensive account.
A Princeton friend of Fitzgerald’s, Alec McKaig, wrote after visiting Scott and Zelda: “Called on Scott Fitz and his bride. Latter temperamental small town, Southern Belle. Chews gum – shows knees. I do not think marriage can succeed. Both drinking heavily. Think they will be divorced in three years. Scott write something big – then die in a garret at 32.” His words were prescient: the marriage survived on paper but they lived separate lives after Zelda’s breakdown, and he wrote something big. The Great Gatsby is one of the great American novels made into a movie four times (1926, 1949, 1974, 2013). It’s a story of illusion, romance and death.
Churchwell shows how current events inspired events in the novel. One of those was the murder of New Jersey lovers Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall, 41 and Eleanor Reinhardt Mills, 34, wife of Hall’s church janitor and singer in the choir, Jimmy Mills, 45. Churchwell makes the link with The Great Gatsby clear. But the double murder has more space than it needed and slows the pace. Besides that minor drawback, Careless People is full of interesting information. The Fitzgeralds were the first American celebrities who lived life large and loud. Their story – like that of the eponymous Gatsby – was tragic; Churchwell tells it well. show less
I am a Fitzgerald fan but anyone interested in literature, the 1920s and history will enjoy this book. Sarah Churchwell combines biographical details of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s hedonistic alcohol-fuelled and chaotic lives, the days show more of (alcohol) Prohibition, and a double murder that dominated headlines for years. She brings together these disparate elements into a cohesive and comprehensive account.
A Princeton friend of Fitzgerald’s, Alec McKaig, wrote after visiting Scott and Zelda: “Called on Scott Fitz and his bride. Latter temperamental small town, Southern Belle. Chews gum – shows knees. I do not think marriage can succeed. Both drinking heavily. Think they will be divorced in three years. Scott write something big – then die in a garret at 32.” His words were prescient: the marriage survived on paper but they lived separate lives after Zelda’s breakdown, and he wrote something big. The Great Gatsby is one of the great American novels made into a movie four times (1926, 1949, 1974, 2013). It’s a story of illusion, romance and death.
Churchwell shows how current events inspired events in the novel. One of those was the murder of New Jersey lovers Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall, 41 and Eleanor Reinhardt Mills, 34, wife of Hall’s church janitor and singer in the choir, Jimmy Mills, 45. Churchwell makes the link with The Great Gatsby clear. But the double murder has more space than it needed and slows the pace. Besides that minor drawback, Careless People is full of interesting information. The Fitzgeralds were the first American celebrities who lived life large and loud. Their story – like that of the eponymous Gatsby – was tragic; Churchwell tells it well. show less
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- Works
- 5
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 829
- Popularity
- #30,791
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 18
- ISBNs
- 35
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- Favorited
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