A Tragic Honesty
by Blake Bailey
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"Yates's life was a tragicomic disaster. The favorite child of an unstable, impecunious mother, Yates described his youth as a "hysterical odyssey" through Depression-era America and beyond, from Westchester to Paris to Greenwich Village and back again, hounded by creditors every step of the way. Such an ordeal was the goad that made Yates determined to reveal the truth, no matter how bleak, that people like his mother tend to bury beneath layers of every delusion. "The most important show more thing," he liked to say, "is not to tell or live a lie."" "What emerges from these pages is a man of fascinating contradictions. A "gentlemen of the old school" who was rarely seen in public without a Brooks Brothers suit and foulard tie, Yates could be a man of consummate integrity and charm. But his better self was constantly sabotaged by alcohol and mental illness, and even at the best of times - a prestigious stint in Hollywood, say, or as Robert Kennedy's speechwriter - some fresh calamity was always in the offing." "A Tragic Honesty is an evocation of a man who in many ways embodied the struggles of the Great American Writer in the latter half of the twentieth century. The story of Richard Yates here stands as a singular reminder of what the writer must sacrifice for his craft, the devil's bargain of artistry for happiness, praise for sanity."--Jacket. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Does anyone remember the silent film star Louise Brooks? I didn't know a thing about her until Natalie Merchant wrote a the biographical song, Lulu. I imagine Richard Yates's life was viewed much the same way. A good handful of people (myself included) probably didn't know his work until Blake Bailey wrote about his tragic life.
And what a tragedy it was. Yates was an extremely intelligent man plague with insecurities that were held at bay only by a beautiful dame or a tall drink. Sadly, Yates was addicted to both and the uncontrollable addiction to the latter drove away the even the most devoted former. Underneath it all Yates was a devoted father, a talented writer, and a lost soul. I will look forward to reading Easter Parade.
Be show more forewarned: there came a point in the narrative when I felt there was nothing more to Yates's biography than loneliness, illness, loneliness, alcoholism and more loneliness. Starting around the 1970s Bailey churned out episode after drunken episode of alcoholic excess peppered with mental illness and trips to the psych ward. Truly depressing stuff...especially as Yates grew weaker and weaker and more pathetic. show less
And what a tragedy it was. Yates was an extremely intelligent man plague with insecurities that were held at bay only by a beautiful dame or a tall drink. Sadly, Yates was addicted to both and the uncontrollable addiction to the latter drove away the even the most devoted former. Underneath it all Yates was a devoted father, a talented writer, and a lost soul. I will look forward to reading Easter Parade.
Be show more forewarned: there came a point in the narrative when I felt there was nothing more to Yates's biography than loneliness, illness, loneliness, alcoholism and more loneliness. Starting around the 1970s Bailey churned out episode after drunken episode of alcoholic excess peppered with mental illness and trips to the psych ward. Truly depressing stuff...especially as Yates grew weaker and weaker and more pathetic. show less
Bailey is a most precise, detailed biographer --a match for Yates' care and craft. With Cheever (Bailey's other biography), Bailey had the extensive near lifelong journals; with Yates he relates the life to the fiction, detail by detail, followed up with interviews with most of Yates' fellow writers and women friends (wives, lovers, daughters) who carried him through.
While Cheever's bio was a book of endless struggle, Yates' is of endless suffering. OK, he does have two or three joyful moments: with his daughters,and at the beginning of a honeymoon with wife too, but mostly he suffers--except for his four hours of writing most mornings before he gets drunk. During the mornings he just struggles with his text and then towards noon with show more his desire for a drink.
This book is a good, thick companion downer to go with the Cheever tome and a great antidote to the Mad Men stylistics. But have a martini ready when you sit down. You'll need it after spending time with Yates. You feel like you are taking care of him too. show less
While Cheever's bio was a book of endless struggle, Yates' is of endless suffering. OK, he does have two or three joyful moments: with his daughters,and at the beginning of a honeymoon with wife too, but mostly he suffers--except for his four hours of writing most mornings before he gets drunk. During the mornings he just struggles with his text and then towards noon with show more his desire for a drink.
This book is a good, thick companion downer to go with the Cheever tome and a great antidote to the Mad Men stylistics. But have a martini ready when you sit down. You'll need it after spending time with Yates. You feel like you are taking care of him too. show less
Het tragische levensverhaal van de aan bipolariteit en drankzucht lijdende Amerikaanse schrijver Richard Yates van wie de sterk autobiografisch getinte boeken, ondanks zeer lovende kritieken, nooit een groot publiek bereikten. Bailey hanteert een vlotte schrijfstijl en tekent een levendig portret van de schrijver en zijn worsteling met zichzelf en de literaire wereld. Maar hij laat ook niets onvermeld zodat de lectuur soms ook iets krijgt van goedkoop voyeurisme.
This was one of the most heartbreaking books I've ever read.
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9+ Works 1,079 Members
Blake Bailey has written for a number of magazines, newspapers, and literary journals. He lives in northern Florida with his wife, Mary Brinkmeyer
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Awards
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Tragic Honesty
- People/Characters
- Richard Yates (novelist)
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- 207
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- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (4.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 1
