Summary
Jim Harrison (b. 1937) is well known for his blunt, brave style in prose, poetry, screenplays, and nonfiction. In Conversations with Jim Harrison, the Michigan-born writer's directness and passion shine throughout.Conversations with Jim Harrison is the first-ever collection of interviews by this well-known, prolific writer whose books include twenty-two volumes of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published over a period of thirty-six years. In addition to standard literary forms, he has written sporting essays, reviews, literary journalism, food columns, and almost twenty screenplays.Harrison, a writer devoted to small presses and independent bookstores, has a formidable reputation as a recluse and defender of his privacy. However, he has been open to interviews in America and abroad, particularly in France, where he is very popular.Conversations with Jim Harrison features interviews given between 1976 and 1999. Although the conversations vary in length, most are traditional questions andanswers. In these Harrison has the opportunity to develop his responses fully and cover a wider range of topics than he can in the briefer, profile pieces.Harrison discusses his peripatetic early life, his desire to be a poet since he was sixteen, and his subsequent "quadra schizoid" attraction to writing poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays.A literary outsider who prefers rural life Harrison talks in detail about his colorful, eventful life. He also explores the mutual enrichment he received from nature and civilization.He talks specifically about a number of his important books -- including Wolf, Legends of the Fall, Sundog, Warlock, and The Road Home. Harrison speakseloquently about habits of mind, aesthetic choices, intellectual resources, and psychological contexts in his writing. By turns thoughtful, cantankerous, witty, and erudite, his voice reveals a man fully given over to the single-min
Table of Contents
| Introduction |
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ix | |
| Chronology |
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xxi | |
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3 | (6) |
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A Good Day for Talking: An Interview with the Author of Wolf and Farmer |
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9 | (14) |
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Contemporary Authors Interview |
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23 | (6) |
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An Interview with Jim Harrison |
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29 | (16) |
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The Man Whose Soul Is Not for Sale: Jim Harrison |
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45 | (18) |
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The Art of Fiction: Jim Harrison |
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63 | (30) |
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Publishers Weekly Interviews: Jim Harrison |
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93 | (5) |
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The Diddy Wah Diddy Interview: Jim Harrison |
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98 | (7) |
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A Man Lit by Passion: Jim Harrison |
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105 | (7) |
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Siren Song: Will Success Lure Poet/Novelist Jim Harrison Out of His Midwestern Lair? |
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112 | (11) |
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An Interview with Jim Harrison |
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123 | (10) |
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A Conversation with Jim Harrison |
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133 | (11) |
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144 | (7) |
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Jim Harrison: ``What I'm Thinking About for' two Hours'' |
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151 | (13) |
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Lord Jim: A Sense of Place |
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164 | (11) |
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An Interview with Jim Harrison |
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175 | (18) |
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Creating Habitat for the Soul: An Interview with Jim Harrison |
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193 | (28) |
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Interview with Jim Harrison |
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221 | (20) |
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| Index |
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241 | |