Henry James: The Young Master

This biography addresses, for the first time, what has been obvious to readers of James and biographies of James who have not been afflicted with homophobia. Because he was not flamboyant as, say, Oscar Wilde, and because he never received what homophobics see as his "condign" punishment, scholars, I think, were reluctant to have a key element of the "canon," certainly not The Master, stigmatized with this accusation. Instead, it was acceptable to allow the stigma of repressed feelings and keep James properly closeted. Lest one think that this makes Novick's book bawdy and lurid, one should know that it merely restores to James his likely, vibrant and active life. In addition, one should know that this volume, of the two, is probably the more helpful for those who need or want foundational information about not just James' upbringing but also on the sources of much that occurs in his works including thematic tendencies. I found the book most enjoyable. It is thoroughly documented with only the periodic typographical anomalies (for example Zora Thurston). Having graded "The Pupil" at a recent AP reading, I was quite interested in Novick's comments on James' very strange educational history and its influence on that particular story.

This first volume on James's life in relation to the writings brings us up to 1881 and The Portrait of a Lady. Novick can be more daring than Leon Edel was, especially about James's love life, as there are now more letters available. It's also nice not to have Edel's over-the-top psychological readings of the works and his Literary-Guild style of narration. Readers may well have overlooked this important book, as it got little press when it came out--the NY Times Book Review gave it two paragraphs in their "Books in Brief" department! But when vol. ii comes out, we will have the most balanced and readable biography of James to date.