My Other Loneliness

Letters of Thomas Wolfe and Aline Bernstein

Biography & Memoir, Literary
Cover of the book My Other Loneliness by , The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9781469611204
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: September 10, 2016
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9781469611204
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: September 10, 2016
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Written over an eleven-year period, these letters between Thomas Wolfe and Aline Bernstein chronicle a love affair that was by turns stormy, tender, bitter, and contrite.

When Wolfe met Mrs. Bernstein shortly before his twenty-fifth birthday in 1925, she was forty-four, married, and at the pinnacle of a successful career as a stage and costume designer. Bernstein gave the young writer not only the unstinting love of an experienced older woman but the financial assistance and belief in his ability that enabled him to create Look Homeward, Angel. "I am deliberately writing the book for two or three people," he writes to her, "first and chiefest, for you."

In letters written while Wolfe traveled in Europe, Bernstein describes the exciting world of the theater in New York and her own work on countless productions. Wolfe's descriptions of life, culture, and language from Oxford to Budapest rank with the best of his collected writings. Reproach becomes a more common theme in the letters as the affair continues, however, by 1931 Wolfe acknowledges that his feelings for Bernstein have altered: "I need your help, and I need your friendship, and I need your love and belief--but the time of madness, darkness, passion is over, we can never relive that, we can never live through it again."

That time continues to live, however, in these letters and in the books that both Wolfe and Mrs. Bernstein wrote about their relationship. For those who have read Wolfe's Of Time and the River, The Web and the Rock, or You Can't Go Home Again, or Aline Bernstein's Three Blue Suits or The Journey Down, this correspondence provides remarkable insights into the authors' sources.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Written over an eleven-year period, these letters between Thomas Wolfe and Aline Bernstein chronicle a love affair that was by turns stormy, tender, bitter, and contrite.

When Wolfe met Mrs. Bernstein shortly before his twenty-fifth birthday in 1925, she was forty-four, married, and at the pinnacle of a successful career as a stage and costume designer. Bernstein gave the young writer not only the unstinting love of an experienced older woman but the financial assistance and belief in his ability that enabled him to create Look Homeward, Angel. "I am deliberately writing the book for two or three people," he writes to her, "first and chiefest, for you."

In letters written while Wolfe traveled in Europe, Bernstein describes the exciting world of the theater in New York and her own work on countless productions. Wolfe's descriptions of life, culture, and language from Oxford to Budapest rank with the best of his collected writings. Reproach becomes a more common theme in the letters as the affair continues, however, by 1931 Wolfe acknowledges that his feelings for Bernstein have altered: "I need your help, and I need your friendship, and I need your love and belief--but the time of madness, darkness, passion is over, we can never relive that, we can never live through it again."

That time continues to live, however, in these letters and in the books that both Wolfe and Mrs. Bernstein wrote about their relationship. For those who have read Wolfe's Of Time and the River, The Web and the Rock, or You Can't Go Home Again, or Aline Bernstein's Three Blue Suits or The Journey Down, this correspondence provides remarkable insights into the authors' sources.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Sovereign Entrepreneurs by
Cover of the book Settling Scores by
Cover of the book Making Marriage Work by
Cover of the book A Reforming People by
Cover of the book Sound States by
Cover of the book A Movement Without Marches by
Cover of the book The Terms of Order by
Cover of the book The Most Dangerous Area in the World by
Cover of the book The Furnace of Affliction by
Cover of the book American Heretic by
Cover of the book Journal of the Civil War Era by
Cover of the book Carolina Cradle by
Cover of the book The Black Bard of North Carolina by
Cover of the book Rome, the Greek World, and the East by
Cover of the book The Antietam Campaign by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy