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Max and Marjorie: The Correspondence between Maxwell E. Perkins and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
"A treasure for anyone interested in how Max Perkins earned his reputation as the most gifted editor of all time by his sheer talent for friendship, encouragement, and sound judgment mixed with humor and tact. It equally reveals the grit and wit of his Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Their lively letters offer rare and engaging glimpses into the anatomy--and alchemy--of a bestseller and masterpiece."--Charles Scribner III "What a pleasure to read such gracious, literate, intimate and affectionate correspondence between an editor and an author. This, one can't help feeling, is the way it ought to be."--Michael Korda, author of Another Life "A wonderful illustration of the special relationship between author and editor that even today still lies at the heart of publishing. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was a strong and valiant character, a major talent with all the doubts and difficulties that go along with it. In Max Perkins she found a receptive spirit whose good counsel engendered confidence and abiding trust; over time, a deep friendship evolved. Watching the delicate, enduring organism of their partnership grow is both heartening and inspiring."--Jonathan Galassi, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
This compelling collection of letters brings together for the first time the entire known correspondence--nearly 700 letters, notes, and wires--of the preeminent 20th-century American editor and his Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
While the letters reveal an intimate portrait of the literary and personal friendship of Maxwell Perkins and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, they also constitute a remarkable history of the Scribner publishing house from 1930 to 1947, when Perkins died. Rawlings, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for The Yearling , was one of Scribner's stars in an era when publishing was difficult for women writers. Perkins was her champion, offering editorial opinion, a week-by-week critique of her work, and candid gossip about other writers he nurtured, most notably Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe.
Perkins and Rawlings brought magic to their correspondence. Though four years passed before they used each other’s first name, their attraction was immediate and they shared a sense of humor, concerns about health, discreet details about their marriages, a weakness for the bottle, and, at times, agonizing fits of despair. She sent him oranges from her citrus grove in north central Florida; he mailed her a steady supply of the stimulating nonfiction she loved to read while writing novels.
Rawlings wrote not just to Perkins but for him. He responded--to both her life and her work--with wisdom, clarity, and generosity. The correspondence of these two superb letter writers presents an eloquent artifact of a rare literary partnership.
Rodger L. Tarr, University Distinguished Professor at Illinois State University, is the editor of Short Stories by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (UPF, 1994), Marjorie Kinnan A Descriptive Bibliography (Pittsburgh, 1996), and Poems by Marjorie Kinnan Songs of a Housewife (UPF, 1997).
This compelling collection of letters brings together for the first time the entire known correspondence--nearly 700 letters, notes, and wires--of the preeminent 20th-century American editor and his Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
While the letters reveal an intimate portrait of the literary and personal friendship of Maxwell Perkins and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, they also constitute a remarkable history of the Scribner publishing house from 1930 to 1947, when Perkins died. Rawlings, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for The Yearling , was one of Scribner's stars in an era when publishing was difficult for women writers. Perkins was her champion, offering editorial opinion, a week-by-week critique of her work, and candid gossip about other writers he nurtured, most notably Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe.
Perkins and Rawlings brought magic to their correspondence. Though four years passed before they used each other’s first name, their attraction was immediate and they shared a sense of humor, concerns about health, discreet details about their marriages, a weakness for the bottle, and, at times, agonizing fits of despair. She sent him oranges from her citrus grove in north central Florida; he mailed her a steady supply of the stimulating nonfiction she loved to read while writing novels.
Rawlings wrote not just to Perkins but for him. He responded--to both her life and her work--with wisdom, clarity, and generosity. The correspondence of these two superb letter writers presents an eloquent artifact of a rare literary partnership.
Rodger L. Tarr, University Distinguished Professor at Illinois State University, is the editor of Short Stories by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (UPF, 1994), Marjorie Kinnan A Descriptive Bibliography (Pittsburgh, 1996), and Poems by Marjorie Kinnan Songs of a Housewife (UPF, 1997).
- GenresNonfiction
628 pages, Hardcover
First published November 27, 1995
3 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
83 books754 followersPeople know American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings for her novel
The Yearling
(1938).
This author lived in rural Florida with rural themes and settings. Her best known work, The Yearling, about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn, won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 and was later made into a movie of the same title, The Yearling. The book was written long before the concept of young-adult fiction, but is now commonly included in teen-reading lists.
This author lived in rural Florida with rural themes and settings. Her best known work, The Yearling, about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn, won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 and was later made into a movie of the same title, The Yearling. The book was written long before the concept of young-adult fiction, but is now commonly included in teen-reading lists.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 14, 2018
I picked this book up at a local library for a dime. I was not particularly interested in it as I'm not much of a Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings fan. By that I mean I started her book, The Yearling, and did not get past the first page because there was, for me, too much descriptive detail.
Yet, I decided to give it a go. After all, it was only a dime.
As I read it I became absorbed in the lives of Max Perkins and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. This book offers much in the way of analysis. Perkins gives perceptive advice to Rawlings about her writing. In fact, writing the book that won her the Nobel Prize, The Yearling, was his idea.
We also learn peripherally about the other authors Perkins served as editor for, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe as well as many others. Rawlings is not boring if nothing else. She is opinionated, irreverent and passionate about her work. It is fascinating to read about her trials and frustrations as she tries to write while maintaining an orange grove at the same time.
It is also absorbing to read how the two bounce ideas and revisions back and forth until they finally achieve a satisfactory conclusion to her work. While Perkins was not a writer, his editing abilities helped shaped many writers work.
We get a good feel for the central Florida where Rawlings lived and after reading her correspondence I am inspired to give The Yearling another shot.
Yet, I decided to give it a go. After all, it was only a dime.
As I read it I became absorbed in the lives of Max Perkins and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. This book offers much in the way of analysis. Perkins gives perceptive advice to Rawlings about her writing. In fact, writing the book that won her the Nobel Prize, The Yearling, was his idea.
We also learn peripherally about the other authors Perkins served as editor for, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe as well as many others. Rawlings is not boring if nothing else. She is opinionated, irreverent and passionate about her work. It is fascinating to read about her trials and frustrations as she tries to write while maintaining an orange grove at the same time.
It is also absorbing to read how the two bounce ideas and revisions back and forth until they finally achieve a satisfactory conclusion to her work. While Perkins was not a writer, his editing abilities helped shaped many writers work.
We get a good feel for the central Florida where Rawlings lived and after reading her correspondence I am inspired to give The Yearling another shot.
May 20, 2019
Fascinating letters, the building of a book, the catering to an ego, such tact and patience Mr. Perkins had. I disliked the use of the N word by Mrs. Rawlings, Mr. Perkins was more subtle, but still biased.
I recently stayed in a house that belonged to Mr Perkin's grandfather in Vermont. The town was mentioned in some letters.
I recently stayed in a house that belonged to Mr Perkin's grandfather in Vermont. The town was mentioned in some letters.
May 8, 2023
Quite an amazing relationship and interesting look inside two brilliant and creative minds.
January 12, 2019
Wonderful biography of Marjorie Rawlings - written from her letters shared with my friend and teacher, Rodger Tarr.
March 25, 2010
Sixteen years worth of letters between the famed editor and the author of The Yearling and Cross Creek. While so many letters eventually requires some skimming on the part of the reader, they are interesting in the manner in which Perkins shaped the manuscripts of his writers (the prime example is Thomas Wolfe). With Rawlings, he pretty much suggested various techniques, additions and deletions to make her work more polished. His suggestions were prefaced with praise, then he got down to brass tacks, albeit with a lot of diplomacy. By and large, while he admired Rawlings work, he kept his end of the correspondence focused on the work. Rawlings complied but revealed far more of her personal life. Perkins constantly nudged her to complete manuscripts and in particular to tackle the "boy's book" as he imagined The Yearling would be. The collection of their letters gives a comprehensive view of how the editor-writer relationship can profit both parties.
June 6, 2020
I've heard of Maxwell Perkins all my life. And I like reading letters (though I haven't finished these yet - I go back to them in between novels - there are a LOT of letters). It's always interesting to see inside the collaborative work of an editor and author. The characters of Max and Marjorie come through so clearly - each had oddities and weaknesses. I was amused at Max's unwillingness to go to Cross Creek despite Marjorie's constant urging, though he'd hang out with Hemingway anywhere. I share her love of this part of Florida, and I used to urge my northcentric and eurocentric family to visit, but I've given up with most of them.
February 12, 2015
Letters between Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of "The Yearling" and other books, and Max Perkins, editor of Thomas Wolfe, Hemmingway,and Fitzgerald. The letters show the growth in their relationship from author/editor to friends. Especially interesting is seiing Perkins's suggestions to Rawlings about changes in her novels as they progress. A few illustrations.
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April 18, 2012Amazing insight is gleened by reading these letter between Marjorie and her editor, Max Perkins. Max Perkins was the first to recommend that she write about her neighbors in Florida--not the things she was proposing to write for him.
November 4, 2007
Ever-enlightening, simply to get insight as to what the correspondence relationship between a writer and editor once was. Though it is a sad fact that there was only one Maxwell Perkins.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews