Harold Frederic

[Jozanny]

Logos, despite myself, I logged back on to nominate Harold Frederic for the author's list.

And again, despite my education and the breadth of my literacy, I had never heard of this remarkably under rated author until I purchased my kindle.

The Damnation of Theron Ware is one of the greatest American novels I have ever set eyes on, and if you or Admin or Sche or whoever else runs this ship behind the scenes can bump this neglected fellow up on the priority list, it would be worth it. I am almost ready to go have a fight with the ghost of Henry James for not using his clout to help this man, as they were alike expatriates lucky enough to flee and create great works on the American scene.

[Jozanny]

And, though I do not make my living as a scholar, I am gratified to tickled pink that my instincts were spot on. Courtesy of the Jamesians, from Henry James, Oscar Wilde and
Aesthetic Culture:


As the London correspondent for The New York Times, Frederic had
favourably reviewed Guy Domville; he reported that James “received
‘ruffianly’ treatment, [but] the play was drawing good houses, and
‘intelligent people who go speak highly of it’”. William James sent
Henry this clipping as an enclosure to his letter of 15 January 1895.
Yet at the close of the nineties, Frederic had become an embarrassment
in circles where he had once been welcomed. Joseph Conrad called him
“a gross man who lived grossly and died abominably” . Frederic’s death
in 1898 was fraught with scandal and he left a number of illegitimate
children which Cora and Stephen Crane took in.

Interesting set of facts, I daresay. :)