Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography

by David C. Smith, Fred C. Adams Jr., Bob McLain (Editor)

Winner of the 2018 Atlantean award for Outstanding Achievement, Book from the Robert E. Howard Foundation From a single, stifling room in a small sagebrush town in central Texas, hunched over a manual typewriter, Robert E. Howard created memorable characters, exotic worlds, and glorious pulp adventures. In this new biography, Howard is firmly established as an important figure in American literature. Before taking his own life at the age of 30, the precocious Howard was one of the most popular writers of the pulp magazine era of the Jazz Age and the Great Depression. Recognized today as the creator of Conan the Cimmerian and the originator of the sword-and-sorcery genre, he was also a gifted poet and the author of now-classic horror stories, historical dramas, and comical tall tales. But the gifted and brilliant Howard saw himself as an outsider in the small Texas town where he lived with his father, a physician, and his mother, who battled ill health for much of her life. Constrained by circumstance, Howard put into his fiction the excitement of far horizons that he himself was denied. David C. Smith, himself a recognized author of fantasy and adventure fiction, here presents the unique story of a young man who defied the odds of his time and place to become a writer whose work is still enjoyed by millions. Smith shows us how Howard fulfilled his readers’ expectations for page-turning excitement while writing with poetic precision and creating archetypal characters that are now part of mainstream American popular culture.

Genres: Biography

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 3, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jason Ray Carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, compact, compelling, and informed biography of Howard. The emphasis is on Howard’s development as a literary artist. Compared to other Howard biographies, particularly Mark Finn’s excellent *Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard,* this stands up as a needed supplement. Whereas Finn’s *Blood and Thunder* shows how Howard was a regional writer, a distinctive “Texan” voice, Smith’s biography is, comparatively, more “literary critical,” more appreciative of Howard as an intellectual and artist. Howard fans should own and read this.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third or fourth Robert E. Howard biography that I have read. I’ve met this author and was very impressed with his speech at Howard Days in 2019, where first I picked up this book. I finally got around to reading it.

In sum, an interesting bio focusing primarily upon Howard’s works. Smith does a an excellent job of covering these as well as pertinent details of Howard’s life. Smith provides commentary on Howard’s literary accomplishments throughout.

As a very good fiction author himself, Smith’s book flows, giving Howard his rightly deserved due in poetic flair. However, Smith can get caught up into his own prose sometimes, saying things that are not always coherent. But such eccentricities are few and forgivable.

If you’re new to Robert E. Howard, I recommend this book. For the Howard completist, that should go without saying! Great book Mr. Smith!

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

This goes upon the shelf next to Mark Finn’s Blood & Thunder. No need to choose a favorite amongst the two, Finn and Smith take different approaches and both are very fine; however, Smith did make me see how REH wrote in an enjoyable way. Smith’s book illustrates the power of REH’s writing, while Finn’s book shed light on the author’s too short life.

If you have not read a majority of REH’s writing, then Smith’s book is full of spoilers for you.

Highly recommended to fans of Robert Ervin Howard.

[J.W. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that although I do have a lot of sword and sorcery/fantasy author David C. Smith’s works in my library, I haven’t had the pleasure of reading them yet. This book, however, when I purchased it online, caught my attention immediately, and I decided I had to read it straight away. Why wouldn’t I when it’s about the life and works of unquestionably the greatest sword and sorcery author who ever lived?
Years ago, I saw the biopic about Robert E. Howard called “The Whole Wide World,” and while it was entertaining, it didn’t really get to the heart of who Robert E. Howard was or any other of the heroes he created besides Conan the Cimmerian. Thus when I saw this biography advertised online, and saw that it was written by none other than David C. Smith, I decided I had to purchase and read it.
Although Conan was Howard’s most famous and most interesting character, there is a slew of others he created that hardly ever get mentioned, except among fans. These include, but are not limited to King Kull of Atlantis, the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn, the Celtic hero Cormac Mac Art, the Puritan witch-hunter Solomon Kane, fighting sailor Steve Costigan, the interplanetary voyager Esau Cairn, the brooding crusader Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, the original she-devil-with- a-sword Red Sonja, the desert fighter Francis Xavier Gordon, the backwoods adventurer Breckenridge Elkins, and so many others. All of these heroes he created are referred to in Smith’s biography of Howard, except for Cormac Mac Art, the why of which I’m not entirely clear on.
Smith writes a compelling biography of R.E. Howard’s life and works that really proves itself to be a treasure that belongs in any fantasy/sword and sorcery fan’s extended library. He gives the reader insight into what kind of individual Howard was and what kind of life he led as well as where he got his inspiration. It’s revealed that Howard was extremely well-read for a man of his time and location, and it is from that that he culled a lot of his inspiration.
Also covered in this biography is Howard’s friendship and correspondence with those in the Weird Tales/Lovecraft circle, such as H.P. Lovecraft himself, C.L. Moore, E. Hoffmann Price, and others. Some of his letters are also displayed here which gives insight into how he felt about several issues of the time and writing in general.
David C. Smith gives a captivating window into Robert E. Howard’s career as an industrious author, and also his dry spells. Along with his love/hate relationship with Weird Tales magazine, in addition to his relationship with his one-time girlfriend Novalynne Price, which is covered somewhat, but not deeply, in the film “The Whole Wide World.”
The reader is taken through a journey of Howard’s life and career up to his untimely and tragic suicide in 1936, and every word of this book is to be savored. David C. Smith has penned what may prove to be the finest and most essential Robert E. Howard biography yet.
I give “Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography” by David C. Smith a 5 out of 5.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography by David C. Smith, Pulp Hero Press, 2018. I’ve had this book for over 5 years and never found time to read it until now. I wish I had read it earlier. It’s a truly insightful and sensitive look at the work of one of my favorite writers. As the title suggests, the focus here is on the literary legacy left by Howard and not so much on his private life. Certainly, the key elements are there, such as his caring for his ailing mother and his brief romance with Novalyne Price Ellis, and—of course—his suicide. However, the meat of the work is a dissection of Howard’s poetic prose. Smith is just the person to undertake this task because he is a successfully fiction author himself and also a professional editor. I highly recommend it.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a suitable amout of biographical information concerning Robert E. Howard and a totally acceptable amout of rumination on the place of Howard's work in literature. It's alright, it's not the best example of this sort of thing I've ever come across, but it's pretty good. What it IS good at is recommending particular Howard pieces that might interest you that you might not have encountered otherwise.