James Agee, A Death in the Family

Jeffrey J. Folks (Doshisha University)
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James Agee's

A Death in the Family

is a posthumous novel based on the largely complete manuscript that the author left upon his death in 1955. Agee had been working on the novel for many years, and portions of the work had already appeared in

The Partisan Review

,

The Cambridge Review

,

The New Yorker

, and

Harper's Bazaar

.

Published in 1957, the novel was edited by David McDowell. Several lengthy passages, part of Agee's manuscript whose position in the chronology was not identified by the author, were placed in italics by the editor, whose decision it was to place them at the conclusion of Parts I and II. These dream-like sequences suggest the influence of James Joyce, especially of Ulysses, on Agee's writing.

Published in 1957, the novel was edited by David McDowell. Several lengthy…

2007 words

Citation: Folks, Jeffrey J.. "A Death in the Family". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7198, accessed 19 March 2024.]

7198 A Death in the Family 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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