Description: The first Harte biography in nearly seventy years to be written entirely from primary sources, this book documents Harte's personal relationships and, in addition, his negotiations with various publishers, agents, and theatrical producers as he exploited popular interest in the American West.
Brief description:
Gary Scharnhorst is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico and author of numerous books, including Bret Harte: Opening the American Literary West and Julian Hawthorne: The Life of a Prodigal Son and Owen Wister and the West and Julian Hawthorne: The Life of a Prodigal Son.
Review Quotes: "A fascinating, if disturbing, look at a talented but troubled man."- Montana: The Magazine of Western History "A compelling account of the socioeconomic circumstances in which Gilded Age fiction was produced and marketed."- American Literature "An authoritative record of Harte's life."- Joseph M. Flora, in Western Historical Quarterly