Frederick Karl
Encyclopedia
Frederick Karl was a literary biographer, best known for his work on Joseph Conrad
, a literary critic, and an editor. He spent 25 years teaching at City College of New York
and then followed with 18 years at New York University
.
His first work, A Reader's Guide to Great 20th-Century English Novels, discussed writers such as E. M. Forster
, D. H. Lawrence
, Virginia Woolf
and Conrad. He went on to write extensive biographies about Conrad, William Faulkner
, Franz Kafka
, and George Eliot
. He also edited a multi-volume series, Biography and Source Studies, and co-edited a volume of letters between Conrad and Laurence Davies.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
, a literary critic, and an editor. He spent 25 years teaching at City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
and then followed with 18 years at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
His first work, A Reader's Guide to Great 20th-Century English Novels, discussed writers such as E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
, D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
, Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
and Conrad. He went on to write extensive biographies about Conrad, William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
, and George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
. He also edited a multi-volume series, Biography and Source Studies, and co-edited a volume of letters between Conrad and Laurence Davies.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
Books
- A Reader's Guide to Great 20th-Century English Novels (1959)
- Joseph Conrad: The Three Lives Farrar (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1979)
- American Fiction, 1940-1980: A Comprehensive History & Critical Evaluation (HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
1983) - William Faulkner: American Writer (Weidenfeld & NicolsonWeidenfeld & NicolsonWeidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It is a division of the Orion Publishing Group.-History:...
, 1989) - Franz Kafka: Representative Man (Ticknor & Fields, 1991)
- George Eliot -- Voice of a Century: A Biography (W. W. NortonW. W. NortonW. W. Norton & Company is an independent American book publishing company based in New York City. It is well known for its "Norton Anthologies", particularly the Norton Anthology of English Literature and the "Norton Critical Editions" series of texts which are frequently assigned in university...
, 1995) - Art Into Life (EtruscanEtruscan PressEtruscan Press is an American publisher founded in 2001 with a grant from the Oristaglio Foundation. A non-profit co-operative of poets and writers, Etruscan Press' goal is to "produce and promote books that nurture the dialogue among genres, achieve a distinctive voice, and reshape the literary...
, 2005)