William C. Carter – författare

The extraordinary life and times of Marcel Proust, one of the greatest literary voices of the twentieth century, by “Proust’s definitive biographer” (Harold Bloom)  Selected by New York Times Book Review as a Best Book Since 2000  Based on a wealth of letters, memoirs, workbooks, and manuscripts unavailable before, the book examines Proust’s character and development as an artist, the glittering Parisian world of which he was a part, and the passions that enabled him to write his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time.  “Serious, thoughtful, well-balanced, well-informed. . . . Carter is the kind of reader Proust hoped for, one who understands that a great work compels us to become better readers of ourselves.”—Victor Brombert, Los Angeles Times  “An impeccably researched and well-paced narrative that brings vividly and credibly to life not only the writer himself but also the changing world he knew.”—Roger Pearson, New York Times Book Review

The first in-depth biography of the celebrated composer/lyricist who created Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux FollesThis revealing and comprehensive book tells the full story of Jerry Herman’s life and career, from his early work in cabaret to his recent compositions for stage, screen, and television.Stephen Citron draws on extensive open-ended interviews with Jerry Herman as well as with scores of his theatrical colleagues, collaborators, and close friends. The resulting book—which sheds new light on each of Herman’s musicals and their scores—abounds in fascinating anecdotes and behind-the-scenes details about the world of musical theater. Readers will find a sharply drawn portrait of Herman’s private life and his creative talents. Citron’s insights into Herman’s music and lyrics, including voluminous examples from each of his musicals, are as instructive as they are edifying and entertaining.

The memoirs of Ernest Forssgren (1894–1970), the young Swede who served as Marcel Proust’s last valet, provide new insights into Proust’s life and death. Previously, Forssgren’s memoir has been published only in excerpts, in French, with serious omissions and alterations. This book presents the complete text of the memoir, with an introduction and helpful annotations by the distinguished Proust scholar William C. Carter. Also included here is other new material: the inscriptions that Proust wrote for Forssgren’s copy of Swann’s Way; an important telegram that Proust sent Forssgren, which defines with greater precision the novelist’s activities in the final months of his life; Forssgren’s “Summary” of the first English biography of Proust, by George D. Painter, which provides many new details about Proust’s last trip to Cabourg in 1914 and his attempts at seducing young men of the servant class; and the notes that Forssgren made in his copy of Painter’s biography.

Edited and annotated by leading Proust scholar William Carter, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower is the second volume of one of the twentieth century’s great literary triumphs  It was this volume that won the Prix Goncourt in 1919, affirming Proust as a major literary figure and dramatically increasing his fame. Here the narrator whose childhood was reflected in Swann’s Way moves further through childhood and into adolescence, as the author brilliantly examines themes of love and youth, in settings in Paris and by the sea in Normandy. The reader again encounters Swann, now married to his former mistress and largely fallen from high society, and meets for the first time several of Proust’s most memorable characters: the handsome, dashing Robert de Saint-Loup, who will become the narrator’s best friend; the enigmatic Albertine, leader of the “little band” of adolescent girls; the profoundly artistic Elstir, believed to be Proust’s composite of Whistler, Monet, and other leading painters; and, making his unforgettable entrance near the end of the volume, the intense, indelible Baron de Charlus.  Permeated by the “bloom of youth” and its resonances in memories of love and friendship, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower takes readers into the heart of Proust’s comic and poetic genius. As with Swann’s Way, Carter uses C. K. Scott Moncrieff’s beloved translation as the basis for this annotated and fully revised edition. Carter corrects long-standing errors in Scott Moncrieff’s otherwise superlative translation, bringing it closer than ever to the spirit and style of Proust’s original text—and reaching English readers in a way that the Pléiade annotations cannot. Insightful and accessible, Carter’s edition of Marcel Proust’s masterwork will be the go-to text for generations of readers seeking to understand Proust’s remarkable bygone world.

The foremost Proust scholar of our time offers a brilliantly revised and annotated edition of the first volume of the twentieth century’s most acclaimed novel  “Carter’s revised edition . . . renews one’s appreciation of Proust. . . . [His] slight but decisive emendations bring the reader closer than ever to the tenor of Proust’s style and diction. . . . A magnificent and enduring achievement.”—Choice  One hundred years have passed since Marcel Proust published the first volume of what was to become a seven-volume masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time. In the intervening century his famously compelling novel has never been out of print and has been translated into dozens of languages. English-language readers were fortunate to have an early and extraordinarily fine translation of the novel from Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff. With the passage of time, however, the need for corrections, revisions, and annotations to the Scott Montcrieff translation has become apparent.  Esteemed Proust scholar William C. Carter celebrates the publication centennial of Swann’s Way with a new, more accurate and illuminating edition of the first volume of In Search of Lost Time. Carter corrects previous translating missteps to bring readers closer to Proust’s intentions while also providing enlightening notes to clarify biographical, historical, and social contexts. Presented in a reader-friendly format alongside the text, these annotations will enrich and deepen the experience of Proust’s novel, immersing readers in the world of an unsurpassed literary genius.

An authoritative new edition of the third volume in Marcel Proust’s epic masterwork, In Search of Lost Time Marcel Proust’s monumental seven‑part novel In Search of Lost Time is considered by many to be the greatest novel of the twentieth century. This edition of volume three, The Guermantes Way, is edited and annotated by noted Proust scholar William C. Carter, who endeavors to bring the classic C. K. Scott Moncrieff translation closer to the spirit and style of the author’s original text.  Continuing the story begun in Swann’s Way and continued in In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, The Guermantes Way follows Proust’s young protagonist as he advances through aristocratic French society in late‑nineteenth‑century Paris. A departure from the intimacy of the sprawling novel’s previous two installments, part three unfolds against a colorful backdrop of Parisian life, moving from literary salon to opulent social gathering to provide a biting and satirical commentary on culture, human foibles, the ways of the world, and the irretrievable loss of time.

An authoritative new edition of the fourth volume in Marcel Proust’s epic masterwork, In Search of Lost Time series  Marcel Proust’s monumental seven-part novel In Search of Lost Time is considered by many to be the greatest novel of the twentieth century. The fourth volume, Sodom and Gomorrah, is notable for its pioneering discussion of homosexuality. After its publication, Colette wrote to Proust, “No one has written pages such as these on homosexuals, no one!” This edition is edited and annotated by noted Proust scholar William C. Carter, who endeavors to bring the classic C. K. Scott Moncrieff translation closer to the spirit and style of the original.

The final volume of Marcel Proust’s masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time  Marcel Proust’s monumental seven-part In Search of Lost Time is considered by many to be the greatest novel of the twentieth century. In Time Regained, the final volume, edited and annotated by noted Proust scholar William C. Carter, Proust brilliantly resolves the novel’s main themes: love and jealousy, grief and oblivion, time and memory, and the purpose of art and literature. Among the famous passages is the “masked ball” in which the Narrator, after a long absence from society, attends a party at the Prince de Guermantes’s and at first fails to recognize his old acquaintances because of the changes wrought by the passage of time. The concluding pages, in which the Narrator recovers his will and discovers the subject matter of his future book, contain many observations about life and art that will remain in our memories.  For Time Regained, Carter uses the translation by Andreas Mayor, a successor to the translations of the previous volumes by Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff, who died before finishing this volume.

The acclaimed Proust biographer William Carter portrays Proust's amorous adventures and misadventures from adolescence through his adult years, supplying where appropriate Proust's own sensitive, intelligent, and often disillusioned observations about love and sexuality. Proust is revealed as a man agonizingly caught between the constant fear of public exposure as a homosexual and the need to find and express love. In telling the story of Proust in love, Carter also shows how the author's experiences became major themes in his novel In Search of Lost Time. Carter discusses Proust's adolescent sexual experiences, his disastrous brothel visit to cure homosexual inclinations, and his first great loves. He also addresses the duel Proust fought with the journalist Jean Lorrain after he alluded to Proust's homosexuality in print, his flirtations with respectable women and high-class prostitutes, and his affairs with young men of the servant class. With new revelations about Proust's love life and a gallery of photographs, the book provides an unprecedented glimpse of Proust's gay Paris.