Charles G. Finney
Encyclopedia
Charles G. Finney was an American fantasy novelist and newspaperman. His full name was Charles Grandison Finney, evidently in honor of his great-grandfather, famous evangelist Charles Grandison Finney
.
and served in China
with the United States Army's
15th Infantry Regiment (E Company) 1927–1929. In his memoirs, he notes that his first novel (and most famous book) The Circus of Dr. Lao
was conceived in Tientsin in 1929. After the Army, he worked for the Arizona Daily Star
in Tucson, Arizona
, 1930–1970, as an editor.
Various of Finney's papers, with correspondence and photographs, are collected at the University of Arizona
Main Library Special Collections, Collection Number: AZ 024, Papers of Charles G. Finney, 1959-1966, including typed manuscripts of "A Sermon at Casa Grande", "Isabelle the Inscrutable", "Murder with Feathers", ""The Night Crawler", "Private Prince", "An Anabasis in Minor Key", "The Old China Hands", and "The Ghosts of Manacle".
admired the novel and anthologised it in his collection The Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories
; Bradbury's
Something Wicked This Way Comes
shares with Dr. Lao the setting of a supernatural
circus. Arthur Calder-Marshall's The Fair to Middling (1959), Tom Reamy
's Blind Voices (1978), , Peter S. Beagle
's
The Last Unicorn
(1968) and
Jonathan Lethem
's Chronic City
(2009) were all influenced by Finney's work.
Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor...
.
Biography
Finney was born in Sedalia, MissouriSedalia, Missouri
Sedalia is a city located about south of the Missouri River in Pettis County, Missouri. U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 65 intersect in the city. As of 2006, the city had a total population of 20,669. It is the county seat of Pettis County. The Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of...
and served in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
with the United States Army's
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
15th Infantry Regiment (E Company) 1927–1929. In his memoirs, he notes that his first novel (and most famous book) The Circus of Dr. Lao
The Circus of Dr. Lao
The Circus of Dr. Lao is a 1935 novel written by Arizona newspaperman Charles G. Finney, and illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff. Many later editions omit these illustrations.- Plot summary :...
was conceived in Tientsin in 1929. After the Army, he worked for the Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Star is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. The paper was purchased by Pulitzer in 1971; Lee Enterprises bought Pulitzer in 2005....
in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, 1930–1970, as an editor.
Various of Finney's papers, with correspondence and photographs, are collected at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
Main Library Special Collections, Collection Number: AZ 024, Papers of Charles G. Finney, 1959-1966, including typed manuscripts of "A Sermon at Casa Grande", "Isabelle the Inscrutable", "Murder with Feathers", ""The Night Crawler", "Private Prince", "An Anabasis in Minor Key", "The Old China Hands", and "The Ghosts of Manacle".
Influence
Finney's work, especially The Circus of Dr. Lao, has been highly influential on subsequent writers of fantasy. Ray BradburyRay Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
admired the novel and anthologised it in his collection The Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories
The Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories
The Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories was an anthology of fantasy stories edited by Ray Bradbury and published in 1956. Many of the stories had originally appeared in various magazines including The New Yorker, Charm, Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine, Harper's, and...
; Bradbury's
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Something Wicked This Way Comes (novel)
Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1962 novel by Ray Bradbury. It is about two 13-year-old boys, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, who have a harrowing experience with a nightmarish traveling carnival that comes to their Midwestern town one October. The carnival's leader is the mysterious "Mr...
shares with Dr. Lao the setting of a supernatural
circus. Arthur Calder-Marshall's The Fair to Middling (1959), Tom Reamy
Tom Reamy
Tom Reamy was an American science fiction and fantasy author and a key figure in 1960s and 1970s science fiction fandom. He died prior to the publication of his first novel; his work is primarily dark fantasy....
's Blind Voices (1978), , Peter S. Beagle
Peter S. Beagle
Peter Soyer Beagle is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. His most notable works include the novels The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place and Tamsin, and the award-winning story "Two Hearts".-Career:Beagle won early recognition from The Scholastic Art &...
's
The Last Unicorn
The Last Unicorn
The Last Unicorn is a fantasy novel written by Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968. It has sold more than five million copies worldwide since its original publication, and has been translated into at least twenty languages....
(1968) and
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. It was followed by three more science fiction novels...
's Chronic City
Chronic City
-Summary:Lethem began work on Chronic City in early 2007, and has said that the novel is "set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it’s strongly influenced by Saul Bellow, Philip K...
(2009) were all influenced by Finney's work.
Books
- The Circus of Dr. LaoThe Circus of Dr. LaoThe Circus of Dr. Lao is a 1935 novel written by Arizona newspaperman Charles G. Finney, and illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff. Many later editions omit these illustrations.- Plot summary :...
(1935) - The Unholy City (1937)
- Past the End of the Pavement, a collection (1939)
- The Ghosts of Manacle, a collection (1964)
- The Old China Hands, memoirs (1961)
- The Magician Out of ManchuriaThe Magician Out of ManchuriaThe Magician Out of Manchuria is a fantasy novel by Charles G. Finney. It was first published by itself in 1976 by Panther Books and later in a limited edition of 600 copies from Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. which were signed and numbered...
(1968)
Short stories
- "A Sermon at Casa Grande" in Point West, September, 1963
- "Isabelle the Inscrutable" in Harper's, 228:1367 (April 1964) pp. 51-58.
- "Murder with Feathers" in Harper's 232:1391 (April 1966) pp. 112-113.
- "The Night Crawler" in The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, December 5, 1959. - "Private Prince" in The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, June 24, 1961. - "An Anabasis in Minor Key" in The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, March 26, 1960.
Further reading
- "Charles G. Finney" in Contemporary Authors, published by Thomson Gale.
- Great SF & Fantasy Works - Charles G Finney at http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/CharlesGFinney.php