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James A. Michener (1907–1997)

Author of The Source

217+ Works 43,662 Members 560 Reviews 113 Favorited

About the Author

James A. Michener, 1907 - 1997 James Albert Michener was born on February 3, 1907 in Doylestown, Pa. He earned an A.B. from Swarthmore College, an A.M. from Colorado State College of Education, and an M.A. from Harvard University. He taught for many years and was an editor for Macmillan Publishing show more Company. His first book, "Tales of the South Pacific," derived from Michener's service in the Pacific in World War II, won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical South Pacific, which won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Michener completed close to 40 novels. Some other epic works include "Hawaii," "Centennial," "Space," and "Caribbean." He also wrote a significant amount of nonfiction including his autobiography "The World Is My Home." Among his many other honors, James Michener received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. He was married to Patti Koon in 1935; they divorced in 1948. He married Vange Nord in 1948 (divorced 1955) and Mari Yoriko Sabusawa in 1955 (deceased 1994). He died in 1997 in Austin, Texas. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Philadelphia Enquirer

Series

Works by James A. Michener

The Source (1965) 3,929 copies
Hawaii (1959) 3,678 copies
Chesapeake (1978) 3,046 copies
Centennial (1974) 2,952 copies
Poland (1983) 2,332 copies
Texas (1985) 2,302 copies
Alaska (1988) 2,241 copies
Space (1982) 2,227 copies
The Covenant (1980) 2,002 copies
Tales of the South Pacific (1946) 1,802 copies
Caribbean (1989) 1,794 copies
Mexico (1992) 1,503 copies
Caravans (1963) 1,365 copies
The Drifters (1971) 1,172 copies
Iberia (1968) 1,083 copies
The Novel (1991) — Author — 884 copies
Legacy (1987) 812 copies
Journey (1989) 784 copies
The Bridges at Toko-ri (1953) — Author — 692 copies
Sayonara (1954) 583 copies
The Bridge at Andau (1957) 532 copies
Recessional (1994) 509 copies
Return to Paradise (1951) 486 copies
Alaska {Abtidged} (1988) 380 copies
The Eagle and the Raven (1990) 349 copies
The Fires of Spring (1949) — Author — 332 copies
Rascals in Paradise (1957) 247 copies
The Covenant, Volume I (1980) 162 copies
The Covenant (Volume 2) (1980) 156 copies
Miracle in Seville (1995) 153 copies
Sports in America (1976) 149 copies
Texas, Volume I (1985) 106 copies
My Lost Mexico (1992) 105 copies
The Voice of Asia (1951) 97 copies
Floating World (1954) 95 copies
The Quality of Life (1970) 94 copies
Texas, Volume II (1985) 72 copies
Literary Reflections (1993) 68 copies
Alaska / Hawaii (1988) 55 copies
Six Days in Havana (1989) 43 copies
Centennial, Volume I (1995) 42 copies
Selected writings (1957) 31 copies
Space, Volume I (1982) 26 copies
Space, Volume II (1982) 18 copies
A Century of Sonnets (1997) 17 copies
Caribbean, Volume II (1992) 11 copies
Alaska. [Volume 1] (1988) 9 copies
Poland, Volume I (1983) 9 copies
Alaska, Volume II (1988) 8 copies
Legacy / Recessional (1998) 8 copies
Colorado Saga TOME 2 (1988) 7 copies
Hawaii 1 (1959) 7 copies
Hawaii, Volume II (1959) 7 copies
Mexico, Volume II (1995) 6 copies
Poland, Volume II (1987) 6 copies
Mexico, Volume I (1995) 6 copies
Poland, Volume III (1987) 5 copies
The Journey Prize Anthology 1 (1989) — Foreword — 5 copies
William Penn (1994) 5 copies
Caribbean, Volume I (1993) 4 copies
Hawaii. Tome 1 (1998) 3 copies
The Source, Volume II (1965) 3 copies
Mot rymden 2 2 copies
Ungdom i drift : roman (1971) 2 copies
Os Rebeldes 2 copies
Chesapeake, Volume II (1978) 2 copies
1978 2 copies
Hawaii D. 3 2 copies
WHY MAN EXPLORES : NASA (1976) 2 copies
Mot rymden I + II (1986) 2 copies
La alianza (1982) 2 copies
The Source, Volume I (1965) 2 copies
On Sport (1976) 2 copies
The Source, Volume III (1965) 2 copies
Veien til Kuralei (1989) 2 copies
America 1 copy
POLAND 1 copy
Docteur Zorn (1996) 1 copy
Alaska, Volume IV (1991) 1 copy
Caribbean, Volume IV (1990) 1 copy
A Aliança 1 copy
Omnibus 1 copy
Centennial (Abridged) (1993) 1 copy
Colorado-sagaen bind 1 (1979) 1 copy
Kilden / Bind 2. Loven (1989) 1 copy
CARAIBES (1990) 1 copy
O Romance 1 copy
Pionjr̃erna (1988) 1 copy
Michener anthology (1985) 1 copy
Viagem (1988) 1 copy
The Source Part 2 of 2 (1965) 1 copy
Alaska, Volume III (1991) 1 copy
Alaska 1 copy

Associated Works

The Dangerous Summer (1960) — Introduction, some editions — 660 copies
With Fire and Sword (1884) — Foreword, some editions — 454 copies
South Pacific [1958 film] (1958) — Original book — 200 copies
On the Firing Line: The Public Life of Our Public Figures (1989) — Contributor — 110 copies
Range of Philosophy (1964) — Contributor — 50 copies
Reading for Pleasure (1957) — Contributor — 49 copies
Centennial [1979 TV series] (1997) — Original book — 36 copies
How to Use the Power of the Printed Word (1985) — Author — 29 copies
Best South Sea Stories (1964) — Contributor — 29 copies
Animals Tame and Wild (1979) — some editions — 22 copies
Sayonara [1957 film] (1957) — Original story — 20 copies
A Treasury of Sea Stories (1948) — Contributor — 18 copies
Reader's Digest Today's Best Nonfiction 21 1992 (1992) — Author — 9 copies
Dynasty [1976 film] (2014) — Original book — 7 copies
The New Roger Caras Treasury of Great Horse Stories (1999) — Contributor — 3 copies
Until They Sail [1957 film] (1992) — Original story — 3 copies

Tagged

20th century (174) adventure (120) Afghanistan (122) Alaska (201) American (161) American history (131) American literature (253) Colorado (122) ebook (136) epic (131) fiction (5,517) first edition (187) hardcover (140) Hawaii (268) historical (489) historical fiction (3,218) historical novel (239) history (997) Israel (209) James Michener (180) Kindle (133) literature (271) Mexico (163) Michener (341) Middle East (117) non-fiction (294) novel (839) own (182) paperback (154) Poland (222) read (334) Roman (188) South Africa (165) Spain (263) Texas (209) to-read (1,262) travel (257) unread (191) USA (166) WWII (143)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Michener, James Albert
Birthdate
1907-02-03
Date of death
1997-10-16
Burial location
Austin Memorial Park, Austin, Texas, USA
Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA
Place of death
Austin, Texas, USA
Cause of death
kidney failure
Places of residence
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA
Austin, Texas, USA
Education
Swarthmore College
University of Northern Colorado
Occupations
novelist
editor
teacher
Relationships
Uys, Errol Lincoln (assistent bij boek Het Verbond)
Organizations
United States Navy (WWII)
Awards and honors
Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977)
Honorary portrait image on a United States postage stamp (2008)
Pulitizer Prize (Fiction, 1948)
Short biography
James A. Michener
- De wereld is mijn thuis
- Historische romans op basis van gedegen onderzoek
- Bewogen leven

James A. Michener (1907-1997) had geen makkelijke jeugd: hij verloor al zeer jong zijn ouders en kende als kind veel armoede. In de Tweede Wereldoorlog was hij onder meer piloot en beleefde enkele crashes. Over deze tijd schreef hij onder meer in Tales of the South Pacific (1947), zijn debuutroman die meteen bekroond werd met de Pulitzer Prize.

Het zijn meestal lijvige werken, maar de romans van Michener zijn nog altijd zeer de moeite waard. Hij schreef tientallen (overwegend) historische romans. Zijn verhalen gaan letterlijk de hele wereld over: de onderwerpen die hij behandelt betreffen vaak de geschiedenis van een bepaald land. Michener was zelf ook een fervent reiziger: zo heeft hij de meeste landen ter wereld wel bezocht.

Research
Het werk van Michener wordt gekenmerkt door grondige research en gedegen kennis van het onderwerp waarover hij schrijft. Meestal werkte hij jarenlang aan een boek.

Members

Discussions

Michener 'read alikes" in Book Recommendations Requests (May 2022)
What Are You Reading The Week of 31 January 2015? in What Are You Reading Now? (July 2015)

Reviews

 
Flagged
RCornell | 32 other reviews | Oct 30, 2023 |
$40. 1965 edition
 
Flagged
susangeib | 59 other reviews | Sep 24, 2023 |
Excellent book. Extremely detailed (starting with lava flows millions of years ago) up through nearly statehood ( 1959). Chronicles key characters based on historic individuals who settled and transformed the state. The reason I gave 4 instead of 5 is because it was too detailed at times and dragged a bit.
 
Flagged
lieblbiz | 54 other reviews | Aug 30, 2023 |
One of 500 specially bound copies
 
Flagged
JimandMary69 | 19 other reviews | Aug 27, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

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Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
217
Also by
49
Members
43,662
Popularity
#386
Rating
3.9
Reviews
560
ISBNs
1,006
Languages
17
Favorited
113
About
2
Touchstones
646

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