Being a boy again: autobiography and the American boy book

385 Pages·1994·1.09 MB·English

by  Marcia Ann Jacobson

Being a Boy Again : Autobiography and the
title:
American Boy Book
author: Jacobson, Marcia Ann.
publisher: University of Alabama Press
isbn10 | asin: 0817307648
print isbn13: 9780817307646
ebook isbn13: 9780585247168
language: English
Autobiographical fiction, American--Men
authors--History and criticism, American
prose literature--Men authors--History and
subject
criticism, Boys--United States--Biography--
History and criticism, Boys in literature,
Autobiography.
publication date: 1994
lcc: PS374.A88J33 1994eb
ddc: 813/.409352054
Autobiographical fiction, American--Men
authors--History and criticism, American
prose literature--Men authors--History and
subject:
criticism, Boys--United States--Biography--
History and criticism, Boys in literature,
Autobiography.
Page i
Being a Boy Again
Page ii
Page iii
Being a Boy Again
Autobiography and the American Boy Book
Marcia Jacobson
Page iv
Copyright © 1994
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information Science-
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-
1984.
The illustration used as a frontispiece is "Wating for a Bite," by
Winslow Homer, published in Harper's Weekly, 22 August 1874.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacobson, Marcia Ann.
Being a boy again : autobiography and the American boy book /
Marcia Johnson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8173-0764-8 (alk. paper)
1. Autobiographical fiction, AmericanMen authorsHistory and
criticism. 2. American prose literatureMen authorsHistory and
criticism. 3. BoysUnited StatesBiographyHistory and
criticism. 4. Boys in literature. 5. Autobiography. I. Title.
PS374.A88J33 1994
813'.409352054dc20 94-14510
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data available

Page v
To Steve and Nate
Page vii
One of the best things in the world to be is a boy; it requires no experience,
though it needs some practice to be a good one. The disadvantage of the
position is that it does not last long enough; it is soon over; just as you get
used to being a boy, you have to be something else, with a good deal more
work to do and not half so much fun. And yet every boy is anxious to be a man.
Charles Dudley Warner, Being a Boy
A man, if he is any good, never gets over being a boy.
Sherwood Anderson, Tar: A Midwest Childhood
Page ix
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
1. The Boy Book 1
The Historical Context 1
Fiction and Autobiography 16
2. Thomas Bailey Aldrich and Charles Dudley Warner 25
3. Mark Twain 44
4. William Dean Howells 71
5. Hamlin Garland 98
6. Stephen Crane 116
7. Booth Tarkington 133
8. The End of the Boy Book 151
Notes 161
Works Cited 173
Index 185