Most Popular Books by Carson McCullers

Carson McCullers'' seminal work, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, unfolds in a decaying Southern town during the Great Depression, serving as a poignant exploration of human isolation and the profound longing for connection. Utilizing a lyrical and deeply introspective narrative style, McCullers interweaves the lives of various characters, each seeking solace in the deaf-mute John Singer, a figure who embodies both hope and despair. The novel''s vivid imagery and rich character development offer a lens into the complexities of loneliness, race, and the quest for identity, reflecting the broader societal struggles of America in the 1940s. Born in 1917 in Columbus, Georgia, Carson McCullers was intimately familiar with the themes of isolation and the search for understanding that permeate her writing. Her Southern upbringing and personal experiences, including battles with illness, certainly influenced her portrayal of marginalized voices. McCullers'' keen observation of human emotion and her profound empathy for her characters stem from a life spent navigating her own feelings of alienation and longing, providing a rich backdrop for this powerful narrative. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a must-read for anyone interested in the intricacies of human relationships and the struggle for belonging. McCullers'' poignant prose invites readers to reflect on their own lives and the universal truths of love and loneliness, making it a timeless masterpiece in American literature.

In one volume, the complete short fiction of the author of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, including her two most renowned novellas. Carson McCullers—novelist, dramatist, poet—was at the peak of her powers as a writer of short fiction. Here are nineteen stories that explore her signature themes including loneliness in marriage and the tragicomedy of life in the South. Included in this volume are “The Member of the Wedding” and “The Ballad of the Sad Café,” novellas that Tennessee Williams judged to be “assuredly among the masterpieces of our language.” “McCullers patented the Southern gothic genre that embraces grotesque, morbid characters with such pervading themes as unrequited love and wounded adolescence. Largely set in the South and richly autobiographical, her writings have endured because of their great power and originality.” —Library Journal

A novel that became an award-winning play and a major film, and that has charmed generations of readers, The Member of the Wedding is a story of the inimitable twelve-year-old Frankie, who is utterly bored with her life until she hears about her older brother’s wedding. Bolstered by lively conversations with her house servant, Berenice, and her six-year-old cousin—and her own unbridled imagination—Frankie takes on an overly active role in the wedding, even hoping to go (uninvited) on the honeymoon. This story is a marvelous study of the agony of adolescence and of wanting to be part of something larger and more accepting than yourself. The Member of the Wedding showcases Carson McCullers at her most sensitive, astute, and lasting best. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.

A Southern woman is undone by love and gossip in the classic novella, one of seven stories in this "brilliant . . . panorama of remarkable talent" ( The New York Times). One of the most celebrated and enduringly popular works in Southern literature, this collection assembles Carson McCullers''s best stories, including her beloved novella "The Ballad of the Sad Café." A haunting tale of love and violence in a small Southern town, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable woman whose home serves as the town''s gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes McCullers''s first published story, "Wunderkind," about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist. First published in 1951, The Ballad of the Sad Café was adapted for the stage by the Edward Albee and later made into a film starring Vanessa Redgrave and Keith Carradine. "McCullers''s finest stories." — The New York Times

A reprint of the 1941 novel about the sad and tragic lives of the Pendertons and the Langdons, two military couples living on an army base in the American South in the 1930s.

A new trade paperback edition of McCullers'' second novel, REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE, immortalized by the 1967 film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, and John Houston. Set on a Southern army base in the 1930s, REFLECTIONS tells the story of Captain Penderton, a bisexual whose life is upset by the arrival of Major Langdon, a charming womanizer who has an affair with Penderton''s tempestuous and flirtatious wife, Leonora. Upon the novel''s publication in 1941, reviewers were unsure of what to make of its relatively scandalous subject matter. But a critic for Time Magazine wrote, "In almost any hands, such material would yield a rank fruitcake of mere arty melodrama. But Carson McCullers tells her tale with simplicity, insight, and a rare gift of phrase." Written during a time when McCullers''s own marriage to Reeves was on the brink of collapse, her second novel deals with her trademark themes of alienation and unfulfilled loves. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

“Essential reading for any serious beginning writer . . . illuminating.” —San Francisco Chronicle Carson McCullers is renowned for her Southern Gothic fiction and for such modern classics as The Member of the Wedding. This collection includes an assortment of her earliest work, written mostly before she was nineteen. Included are stories, essays, articles, poems, and writing about writing—including the working outline of “The Mute,” which would become her bestselling novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter—as well as an introduction by Joyce Carol Oates. As new generations continue to discover the work of Carson McCullers, this volume provides both an enjoyable read and an inspiring look at the beginning of a brilliant literary career.

Set in Georgia on the eve of court-ordered integration, Clock Without Hands contains McCullers''s most poignant statement on race, class, and justice. A small-town druggist dying of leukemia calls himself and his community to account in this tale of change and changelessness, of death and the death-in-life that is hate. It is a tale, as McCullers herself wrote, of "response and responsibility -- of a man toward his own livingness".

The Greatest Works of Carson McCullers is a comprehensive collection that encapsulates the profound depth and emotional resonance of McCullers'' literary prowess. Known for her distinctive Southern Gothic style, the book features her iconic works, such as "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and "Member of the Wedding," which explore themes of isolation, identity, and the human condition. McCullers'' lyrical prose and keen sense of character development create an intimate atmosphere that draws readers into the complexities of life in the Depression-era South, offering incisive commentary on social alienation and the search for connection. Carson McCullers, an influential figure in American literature, was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1917. Her traumatic experiences and keen observations of human relationships, shaped by personal struggles''Äîincluding her own health issues''Äîrender her works deeply empathetic and insightful. McCullers emerged as a prominent voice in the Southern literary tradition, and her works continue to resonate with readers seeking depth in their exploration of emotional landscapes and social issues. This collection is a vital read for anyone interested in American literature''s evolution and cultural commentary. McCullers''Äô ability to portray the intricacies of the human heart makes this anthology not only enriching but also essential for understanding the complexities of her era and the universal questions of existence.

A landmark gathering of McCullers’ shorter works, including all her published stories, plays, essays, poems, and an unfinished autobiography Celebrated worldwide for her masterly novels, Carson McCullers was equally accomplished, and equally moving, when writing in shorter forms. This Library of America volume brings together for the first time her twenty extraordinary stories, along with plays, essays, memoirs, and poems. Here are the indelible tales “Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland” and “A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud.” as well as her previously uncollected story about the civil rights movement, “The March”; her award- winning Broadway play The Member of the Wedding and the unpublished teleplay The Sojourner; twenty-two essays; and the revealing unfinished memoir Illumination and Night Glare. This wide-ranging gathering of shorter works reveals new depths and dimensions of the writer whom V. S. Pritchett praised for her “courageous imagination—one that is bold enough to consider the terrible in human nature without loss of nerve, calm, dignity, or love.” LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

More than 30 years after it was written, the autobiography of Carson McCullers finally will be published. From a precocious childhood to her painful decline from crippling strokes, McCullers offers poignant, unabashed remembrances of early writing successes, family and intense relationships. 21 photos.

''A Wunderkind - a Wunderkind a Wunderkind. The syllables would come out rolling in the deep German way, roar against her ears and then fall to a murmur...'' Writing about outcasts, dreamers and misfits in the Deep South, Carson McCullers was acclaimed for her sympathetic depictions of loneliness, the need for understanding and the search for love. These four masterly stories of eccentrics, failed prodigies, injustice and hope, written when she was in her twenties, explore the human condition with humour and pathos. This book includes Wunderkind, The Jockey, Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland, A Tree, A Rock and A Cloud.

Carson McCullers was an American realist author, whose stories depict the inner lives of misfits, outcasts and other lonely people. Her characters often endure physical and psychological difficulties that complicate their natural but bizarre searches for compassion. Her masterpiece ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’ is now ranked by the Modern Library as 17th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. McCullers’ work has often been described as Southern Gothic and is indicative of her Deep South roots. For the first time in publishing history, this eBook presents McCullers’ complete works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to McCullers’ life and works * Concise introductions to the texts * All the novels and short stories, with individual contents tables * The complete poetry and plays * Features rare poems appearing for the first time in digital publishing * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Rare uncollected essays and articles * Excellent formatting of the texts * Includes McCullers’ autobiography * Ordering of texts into chronological order and genres CONTENTS: The Novels The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941) The Member of the Wedding (1946) Clock without Hands (1961) The Shorter Fiction The Ballad of the Sad Café (1951) Uncollected Short Stories The Plays The Member of the Wedding: A Play (1951) The Sojourner (1953) The Square Root of Wonderful (1958) The Poetry Sweet as a Pickle and Clean as a Pig (1964) Uncollected Poems The Non-Fiction The Mortgaged Heart (1971) Uncollected Essays The Autobiography Illumination and Night Glare (1967)

Frankie Addams est une adolescente mal dans sa peau : son corps lui échappe, trop gauche et maladroit. Solitaire, elle rôde dans la vie et dans la ville, le coeur inquiet, à la recherche d’une oreille attentive. Quand elle apprend que son frère se marie et quitte la ville, c’en est trop : elle aussi partira pour toujours. Elle ne sera plus enfermée dans cette cuisine aux odeurs aigres, plongée dans cette chaleur suffocante, à attendre que le temps veuille bien s’écouler. Carson McCullers nous immerge ici dans les sensations déroutantes et aiguës de l’adolescence, et réussit un tour de force en nous replongeant dans cet état à la fois si douloureux et si excitant. Traduit de l’anglais (États-Unis) par Jacques Tournier préface d’Arnaud Cathrine.

A transient stops at an all-night cafe and explains to the owner and a paperboy how the science of love helped him to recover after his wife left him.