William Styron

"Styron's most impressive performance. . . . Belongs on that small shelf reserved for American masterpieces." -Washington Post Book World Winner of the 1980 National Book Award, Sophie's Choice is William Styron's classic novel of love, survival, and regret, set in Brooklyn in the wake of the Second World War. The novel centers on three characters: Stingo, a sexually frustrated aspiring novelist; Nathan, his charismatic but violent Jewish neighbor;...

Styron's stirring account of his plunge into a crippling depression, and his inspiring road to recovery   In the summer of 1985, William Styron became numbed by disaffection, apathy, and despair, unable to speak or walk while caught in the grip of advanced depression. His struggle with the disease culminated in a wave of obsession that nearly drove him to suicide, leading him to seek hospitalization before the dark tide engulfed him.   Darkness...

Styron's provocative anti-war novel: The story of two marine reservists' rejection of the forced conformity of the military machine. In the shadow of the Korean War, a series of misfired mortar shells kill six men in a marine camp during a training exercise, prompting the commanding officer to order a grueling punishment: a thirty-six mile march through the suffocating heat of the Carolina summer. Intended to beat discipline into the aging reservists,...

Three autobiographically inspired novellas by Styron that tell the story of a young writer's journey to adulthood. William Styron's A Tidewater Morning features three novellas centered around budding novelist Paul Whitehurst's coming of age during the Great Depression and Second World War. They convey Whitehurst's struggle to cope with his mother's terminal cancer, his view of the strained racial relations in the pre-war American South, and his anxiety...

"Including significant previously uncollected material, My Generation is the definitive gathering of the fruits of this beloved writer's five decades of public life. Here is the William Styron unafraid to peer into the darkest corners of the 20th century or to take on the complex racial legacy of the United States. But here too is Styron writing about his daily walk with his dog, musing on the Modern Library's "100 Greatest Books," and offering personal...

A compelling and authoritative portrait of an American literary master William Styron was one of the most highly regarded and controversial authors of his generation. In this illuminating biography, James L. W. West III draws upon letters, papers, and manuscripts as well as interviews with Styron's friends and family to recount in rich detail the experiences that shaped each of his groundbreaking books. From Styron's Southern upbringing, which deeply...

A drama set in post-World War II Brooklyn revolves around Sophie, a Polish Catholic beauty who survived Auschwitz, her lover, Nathan, and Stingo, a would-be writer. As the three grow closer, Stingo discovers the captivating and moving truths that each harbors.

A drama set in post-World War II Brooklyn revolves around Sophie, a Polish Catholic beauty who survived Auschwitz, her lover, Nathan, and Stingo, a would-be writer. As the three grow closer, Stingo discovers the captivating and moving truths that each harbor.