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Between Grief and Nothing: The Passions, Addictions and Tragic End of William Faulkner
In 1962, William Faulkner left his homestead in Oxford, Mississippi, to travel to the nearby Byhalia sanatorium for alcoholism rehabilitation. Mere hours later, the usual recovery he sought turned tragic. This book traces the sequence of events leading to his initial hospitalization, exploring facets of his emotional instability, mental health, and various addictions. It reveals how Faulkner's fervent passions shaped both his life and his art; brilliance and madness emerged in equal measure as the author's substance abuse shaped his reality.
Beneath the scholarly facade depicted in photographs was a troubled man entangled in a complex marriage, seeking solace through serial sexual and romantic affairs, perilous pastimes, and the pervasive culture of alcohol abuse. The ultimate truth surrounding Faulkner's final decline gradually emerges as this book examines previously undisclosed medical details such as patient records, administered medications, and financial statements. Interviews with close associates at the Leonard Wright Sanatorium, the sight of his unexpected death, provide further insights. The text reveals a culture ill-prepared to address mental health crises and identifies the habitual forces that hastened the demise of one of America's most celebrated authors.
Beneath the scholarly facade depicted in photographs was a troubled man entangled in a complex marriage, seeking solace through serial sexual and romantic affairs, perilous pastimes, and the pervasive culture of alcohol abuse. The ultimate truth surrounding Faulkner's final decline gradually emerges as this book examines previously undisclosed medical details such as patient records, administered medications, and financial statements. Interviews with close associates at the Leonard Wright Sanatorium, the sight of his unexpected death, provide further insights. The text reveals a culture ill-prepared to address mental health crises and identifies the habitual forces that hastened the demise of one of America's most celebrated authors.
221 pages, Paperback
Published January 20, 2025
6 people are currently reading
2037 people want to read
About the author
Lisa C. Hickman
5 books9 followersAuthor and Faulkner scholar Lisa C. Hickman offers fresh insight and new research into Faulkner's tormented genius. Between Grief and Nothing: The Passions, Addictions and Tragic End of William Faulkner is a swift moving narrative that unravels a complicated story of time and place, unaddressed mental issues, and his death in a Mississippi Sanatorium. Other books include William Faulkner and Joan Williams: The Romance of Two Writers, with correspondence between Faulkner and Williams and a foreword by novelist Richard Bausch; Stranger to the Truth, a narrative nonfiction account of a high-profile Memphis matricide case; and editor of Remembering: Joan Williams’ Uncollected Pieces.
“One Fifth Avenue: William Faulkner Romances Manhattan . . . and Joan Williams”--a selected paper for “William Faulkner’s New York” at the Modern Language Association--Los Angeles Review of Books articles, “The Road to Glory: Faulkner’s Hollywood Years, 1932-1936” and the profile “Tiger Lady: On Joan Williams"--are among her noteworthy Faulkner-Williams contributions.
Hickman’s writing and scholarship have appeared in The Mississippi Encyclopedia, The Southern Quarterly, Mississippi Writers Page, Housman Society Journal, Teaching Faulkner, The Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review, Des Moines Sunday Register, Memphis Magazine and Memphis Flyer and others. She holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Mississippi with a concentration in Faulkner and Southern literature and her Master of Arts in American literature from Drake University.
“One Fifth Avenue: William Faulkner Romances Manhattan . . . and Joan Williams”--a selected paper for “William Faulkner’s New York” at the Modern Language Association--Los Angeles Review of Books articles, “The Road to Glory: Faulkner’s Hollywood Years, 1932-1936” and the profile “Tiger Lady: On Joan Williams"--are among her noteworthy Faulkner-Williams contributions.
Hickman’s writing and scholarship have appeared in The Mississippi Encyclopedia, The Southern Quarterly, Mississippi Writers Page, Housman Society Journal, Teaching Faulkner, The Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review, Des Moines Sunday Register, Memphis Magazine and Memphis Flyer and others. She holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Mississippi with a concentration in Faulkner and Southern literature and her Master of Arts in American literature from Drake University.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 13, 2025
How you feel about this book may depend on how you feel about William Faulkner’s writing. While acknowledging his position as a major figure in American literature, I’ve found his books opaque, difficult to get through, and bewildering. And this partial biography has not encouraged me to go back and try again.
Hickman, an independent scholar and professor at Southwest Tennessee Community College, has focused intensively on Faulkner’s later years, sodden with alcohol, and relentlessly pursuing a series of much younger women. Her access to the current owners of what was once a sanitarium where Faulkner was “dried out,” over and over again, led to the discovery of his medical records there, forgotten under a stairwell in the abandoned building. They paint a dire picture of his final days, drugged to the gills, and finally dying there at 65.
Frankly, it is a sordid, ugly, rather horrifying narrative. Hickman has interviewed women who were involved with “Bill,” as she calls him, and relatives and friends from the time. She also makes liberal use of Joseph Blotner’s landmark 1974 biography. She pieces together events from his years as a Hollywood scriptwriter/doctor, and in the social whirl of New York City among other writers and publishers. But it’s not even fun. Or even very interesting. Bill was basically interested in three things: himself, his art, and his women, in that order. He drank until he needed someone to pick him up (again) and drag him off to the sanitarium (again) to dry out (again). He raged at his wife (who drank nearly as hard as he did), but would not divorce her, meanwhile stringing along these young writer-wannabe women, who could never quite break off from him, and who he lured back into furtive affairs for years with flowery love letters. It’s simply awful.
The focus on these ongoing melodramas means there is little about his main redeeming quality: his writing. There are many speculative sentences with “could have,” “would have,” “perhaps,” and a “seemingly could have reached out.” Hickman seems confused about the marriage of one of Bill’s lovers… on one page, it occurs in April 1937 and a few pages later it’s in October 1936. There are odd little exclamatory remarks, such as about the writing of Intruder in the Dust: “He wrote it in three months!”
Hickman’s Faulkner was wildly unreliable, slovenly, demanding. If you love his writing, you might be appalled. If you don’t, you may not want to read this at all. It’s a Faulkner character who says if has to choose between grief and nothing, he’ll take grief. This book is heavy with grief and misery; I would choose the nothing instead.
Hickman, an independent scholar and professor at Southwest Tennessee Community College, has focused intensively on Faulkner’s later years, sodden with alcohol, and relentlessly pursuing a series of much younger women. Her access to the current owners of what was once a sanitarium where Faulkner was “dried out,” over and over again, led to the discovery of his medical records there, forgotten under a stairwell in the abandoned building. They paint a dire picture of his final days, drugged to the gills, and finally dying there at 65.
Frankly, it is a sordid, ugly, rather horrifying narrative. Hickman has interviewed women who were involved with “Bill,” as she calls him, and relatives and friends from the time. She also makes liberal use of Joseph Blotner’s landmark 1974 biography. She pieces together events from his years as a Hollywood scriptwriter/doctor, and in the social whirl of New York City among other writers and publishers. But it’s not even fun. Or even very interesting. Bill was basically interested in three things: himself, his art, and his women, in that order. He drank until he needed someone to pick him up (again) and drag him off to the sanitarium (again) to dry out (again). He raged at his wife (who drank nearly as hard as he did), but would not divorce her, meanwhile stringing along these young writer-wannabe women, who could never quite break off from him, and who he lured back into furtive affairs for years with flowery love letters. It’s simply awful.
The focus on these ongoing melodramas means there is little about his main redeeming quality: his writing. There are many speculative sentences with “could have,” “would have,” “perhaps,” and a “seemingly could have reached out.” Hickman seems confused about the marriage of one of Bill’s lovers… on one page, it occurs in April 1937 and a few pages later it’s in October 1936. There are odd little exclamatory remarks, such as about the writing of Intruder in the Dust: “He wrote it in three months!”
Hickman’s Faulkner was wildly unreliable, slovenly, demanding. If you love his writing, you might be appalled. If you don’t, you may not want to read this at all. It’s a Faulkner character who says if has to choose between grief and nothing, he’ll take grief. This book is heavy with grief and misery; I would choose the nothing instead.
April 24, 2025
This is a fascinating book. As a big fan of Sanctuary, Light in August, and, especially, The Sound and the Fury I have read a number of Faulkner biographies hoping to gain a better insight into what made the man’s brain tick as well as the thought processes responsible for these unique works. All of those profiles made no bones regarding his unending struggle with alcoholism and depression but none in such blistering and persuasive detail as Between Grief and Nothing. I genuinely found the book hard to put down. By Hickman’s use of the novelist’s recurrent visits to the Wright Sanitarium in Byhalia, Mississippi as a temporal framework, the reader gains a much greater awareness of the terrific personal price Faulkner paid for his enormous literary success, in particular the deleterious impact of his ultimately frustrating relationships with several younger (and ambitious) female writers – one can’t help but ponder who was taking advantage of who the most! Again, this is a captivating read. It goes without saying how much richer the world of literature is for Faulkner’s catalog of fiction but, after reading this book one comes away seriously wondering, at least on the personal level, whether he made the wisest decision in his stated preference for “grief over nothing.”
July 16, 2025
Even as William Faulkner was producing literary art to great acclaim, he also was struggling with emotional instability, alcohol addiction and a turbulent marriage to another drinker. “Beyond Grief and Nothing” examines the sensitive man behind the public image, his romantic entanglements and the personal losses that kept Faulkner bouncing in and out of local sanatoriums (this was in the decades before the Betty Ford Center gave rise to publicly accepted “rehabs” for drying out.) This book includes previously undisclosed details about Faulkner’s final hours at the Leonard Wright Sanatorium in Byhalia, Miss., before his July 1962 death, and corrects the historic record concerning previous hospitalizations. It’s a “must read” for Faulkner scholars as well as readers who enjoy compelling narratives about brilliant, self-destructive Nobel laureates.
March 30, 2025
There are, of course, plenteous biographies of William Faulkner, tomes with ad infinitum analysis of his life: his childhood, his writings, his home, his literary career and so on.
Thankfully, Lisa C. Hickman’s Between Grief and Nothing — a fascinating window into his tormented genius — is not among them.
Instead, this highly focused account, fueled by a treasure trove of previously undiscovered sanatorium records, offers a new appraisal and invites a fresh appreciation of the novels and stories overlapping this tumultuous period. Faulkner’s relevancy is undaunted, and as one of his characters famously said, “They kilt us but they ain’t whupped us!”
Thankfully, Lisa C. Hickman’s Between Grief and Nothing — a fascinating window into his tormented genius — is not among them.
Instead, this highly focused account, fueled by a treasure trove of previously undiscovered sanatorium records, offers a new appraisal and invites a fresh appreciation of the novels and stories overlapping this tumultuous period. Faulkner’s relevancy is undaunted, and as one of his characters famously said, “They kilt us but they ain’t whupped us!”
September 15, 2025
Between Grief and Nothing: The Passions, Addictions and Tragic End of William Faulkner, by Lisa C Hickman, is a grim but enlightening look at not just the things that ruled Faulkner's private life but at the society of the time that treated addictions, at least for the well-off, as minor inconveniences rather than cries for help.
As the title makes clear, this is not a work of literary criticism, so you can't rationally lament the fact his works are important to the story but not center stage. Most other biographies lean in that direction and do so very well. This book, largely because of newly surfaced records, goes in depth where most of the other works briefly commented. Granted, those books frequently touched on his drinking and affairs, how could they not, but not in depth.
What made this book work for me was the way it was written. The subject matter is glum and depressing, especially if you admire Faulkner's work. If this had been written with long chapters and very few natural breaks in each, it might have been too much. Instead, it is more episodic but without jumping around (except for periodic mentions of something from the past or something to come later). The chapters are fairly short with a number of sections ranging from less than a page up to a couple pages within each. These are separated by a set of asterisks that makes you pause, and also gives you a chance to take a break and come up for air.
No, this isn't a fun read, most books that look at a person's addictions and self-destructive tendencies aren't. Do people seriously think there will be a fun read that covers such things? Anyway, what is mentioned now and then throughout the book and made me think about even people I knew growing up (during the 1960s) was how trips to places to "dry out" were almost chuckled about, like it carried no more serious weight than simply needing to get away for a time so the could come back and start the descent again. The more famous you were or the more money you had the more it was overlooked and just accepted. While it still happens today, no one can look at those celebrities without hoping they can overcome their demons rather than just brush it aside until next time.
I would recommend this to fans of Faulkner who want to know more details about his life. This may be a little more iffy if you like to try to keep your appreciation of his writing separate from the human being who wrote it. This will also, as I've touched on, be of interest to those who study or have an interest in substance abuse and its history. If you're hoping to get literary analysis, this has very little, as the title implies, so take that into consideration.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing.
As the title makes clear, this is not a work of literary criticism, so you can't rationally lament the fact his works are important to the story but not center stage. Most other biographies lean in that direction and do so very well. This book, largely because of newly surfaced records, goes in depth where most of the other works briefly commented. Granted, those books frequently touched on his drinking and affairs, how could they not, but not in depth.
What made this book work for me was the way it was written. The subject matter is glum and depressing, especially if you admire Faulkner's work. If this had been written with long chapters and very few natural breaks in each, it might have been too much. Instead, it is more episodic but without jumping around (except for periodic mentions of something from the past or something to come later). The chapters are fairly short with a number of sections ranging from less than a page up to a couple pages within each. These are separated by a set of asterisks that makes you pause, and also gives you a chance to take a break and come up for air.
No, this isn't a fun read, most books that look at a person's addictions and self-destructive tendencies aren't. Do people seriously think there will be a fun read that covers such things? Anyway, what is mentioned now and then throughout the book and made me think about even people I knew growing up (during the 1960s) was how trips to places to "dry out" were almost chuckled about, like it carried no more serious weight than simply needing to get away for a time so the could come back and start the descent again. The more famous you were or the more money you had the more it was overlooked and just accepted. While it still happens today, no one can look at those celebrities without hoping they can overcome their demons rather than just brush it aside until next time.
I would recommend this to fans of Faulkner who want to know more details about his life. This may be a little more iffy if you like to try to keep your appreciation of his writing separate from the human being who wrote it. This will also, as I've touched on, be of interest to those who study or have an interest in substance abuse and its history. If you're hoping to get literary analysis, this has very little, as the title implies, so take that into consideration.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing.
February 2, 2025
While reading Between Grief and Nothing, I would become overwhelmed just imagining the process of finding and confirming all the sources for Lisa Hickman’s book —from the cocktails in NYC to the dirt roads of Mississippi—and then deciding the organization and format for the telling of Faulkner’s compelling and relatable story. Hickman's writing style flowed and kept me engaged with little awareness of the many sources referenced. In this book, we get to hear Faulkner talking with his “hometown” friends; this put me at his side and introduced me to many of the characters in his books.
This significant book covers new ground and is told in a style that enables followers of Faulkner or general readers to learn, grow and enjoy.
Lisa Hickman’s book revived my awareness of how much I enjoy Faulkner; I just ordered a copy of As I lay Dying which I saw as a play years ago.
This significant book covers new ground and is told in a style that enables followers of Faulkner or general readers to learn, grow and enjoy.
Lisa Hickman’s book revived my awareness of how much I enjoy Faulkner; I just ordered a copy of As I lay Dying which I saw as a play years ago.
Currently reading
March 29, 2025Very readable book that describes aspects of William Faulkner’s life that are not well known. There is also new material on the writer Joan Williams. The descriptions of both writers, their passions, their difficulties with relationships, their charms, and their griefs add insights into how their inner lives drove their desire to write and their choices as to what to write. Readers. will find this book fascinating.
January 30, 2025
Lisa C Hickman delivers a fascinating book on William Faulkner’s final days. It reads like juicy noir story - in all the good ways, while reminding us of the often shocking divide between creativity and self destruction.
August 16, 2025
Enlightening look into William Faulkner life. It has given me a new perspective from which to view his work.
May 29, 2025
Excellent book! Especially impressed with attention to the historical details of Faulkners life. A MUST read!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews