| Mason: The Life of R. A. K. Mason Contributor(s): Barrowman, Rachel (Author) |
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ISBN: 0864734638 ISBN-13: 9780864734631 Publisher: Victoria University Press OUR PRICE: $25.60 Product Type: Paperback Published: April 2004 Annotation: The full story of the gifted but troubled R. A. K. Mason is told for the first time in this accessible biography. The puzzling reasons, after his extraordinary beginning, Mason almost completely stopped writing poetry are investigated. The legendary story of how Mason dumped 200 copies of his first book, "The Beggar, into Auckland harbor in disappointment, disgust, or despair because no one would buy it is explored as a symbol of a time--the 1920s and 1930s--when a true, vital, native literature struggled to be written or heard in a provincial and puritanical country. Also explored are how Mason's political beliefs prompted him to turn his creative energies to left-wing theater movements in the 1930s, the impact that family pressures had on his life, and his late-in-life diagnosis with manic depression. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Australian & Oceanian - Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures - History | Australia & New Zealand - General |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2003374650 |
| Physical Information: 455 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Australian - Cultural Region - Oceania |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The full story of the gifted but troubled R. A. K. Mason is told for the first time in this accessible biography. The puzzling reasons after his extraordinary beginning that Mason almost completely stopped writing poetry are investigated. The legendary story of how Mason dumped 200 copies of his first book, The Beggar, into Auckland harbor in disappointment, disgust, or despair because no one would buy it is explored as a symbol of a time--the 1920s and 1930s--when a true, vital, native literature struggled to be written or heard in a provincial and puritanical country. Also explored are how Mason's political beliefs prompted him to turn his creative energies to left-wing theater movements in the 1930s, the impact that family pressures had on his life, and his late-in-life diagnosis with manic depression. |