Philip M. Weinstein

I am new to literary biography, if that is how you refer to this work. I have read most of Faulkner’s novels, which helped, since much of what Weinstein covered were themes across groups of Faulkner’s novels. I felt I learned quite a bit and this book provided me some perspective on Faulkner’s work, but I can’t say I enjoyed it that much. I found the literary analysis a bit overdone and pretentious even while finding some value in it. I enjoyed more the segments of biography and how Faulkner’s life affected his novels and his themes. I haven’t read enough of this type of work to know if it is the genre or the execution that left me unsatisfied and a bit bored. Reading about Faulkner’s and other authors’ lives does make you wonder if often gifts of this type come with significant troubles in dealing with life’s normal challenges.… (more)