Setting Stein and Wilde Straight
New studies of Gertrude Stein and Oscar Wilde correct previous mistakes and misleading commentary made by biographers and critics.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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CARL ROLLYSON
Cape May County, New Jersey
Carl Rollyson is a Book Reviewer for the Sun.
Mr. Rollyson is the author of The Life of William Faulkner and The Last Days of Sylvia Plath. He has published fourteen biographies and has written about biography for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington, Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the New Criterion, and other publications.
Latest Articles
A Novelist’s Deep Dive Into Sylvia Plath Pays Off
Several novels have depicted the doomed marriage of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, but none quite like Helen Bain’s ‘The Daffodil Days.’
By CARL ROLLYSON
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The Marilyn Monroe Doctrine: Star Quality and Self-Doubt
The latest biography of the actress recognizes how much progress has been made in regards to the recognition of her brilliance as a perfomer.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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A Marilyn Monroe Biography Committed to Facts, Not Myths
Andrew Wilson’s study of the actress, on the occasion of her centenary, delves into the reality of her psychology and behavior, not her roles onscreen.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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Rank Goes to Hollywood
Gareth Owen’s biography of one of Britain’s top film moguls is short on anecdotes but full of insight on the creative decisions that led to hit movies.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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‘Trudeau & Doonesbury’ Examines a Comic Strip That Became Part of the National Discussion
Joshua Kendall’s new biography shows the cartoonist was prophetic about Donald Trump, first depicting him as a presidential candidate in 1987.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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A Brilliant Paternal Study, ‘Twice Born’
Hester Kaplan chronicles both her father, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Mark Twain, and her own development as a writer.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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Piecing Together Lorca’s Time in Interwar America
Patricia A. Billingsley’s painstaking two decades of research into the Spanish poet’s East Coast exploits comes to fruition in ‘Lorca in Vermont.’
By CARL ROLLYSON
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A Scribner Scion Sets the Record Straight on Fitzgerald and Hemingway
In ‘Artists & Authors,’ Charles Scribner III engagingly outlines the nexus between writers and artists and publishers.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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Reconsidering How George Washington Came To Symbolize the American Revolution
H.W. Brands’ new biography shows that although the Father of His Country considered himself impartial, by the end of his presidency he had become a Federalist.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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A Sensitive Study of Thomas Jefferson, a President Who Never Apologized or Admitted Wrongdoing
Andrew Burstein’s new biography of the third president shows him to be a world class grudge bearer who did much to dilute the partisanship of the 1790s.
By CARL ROLLYSON
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Debunking Historical Myths About Mafia Ties to the White House
‘Wiseguys and the White House: Gangsters, Presidents, and the Deals They Made’ discloses how mobsters tend to show little interest in politics.
By CARL ROLLYSON
||Culture