Letters to My Father

by William Styron, Rose Styron (Foreword)

"I've finally pretty much decided what to write next―a novel based on Nat Turner's rebellion," twenty-six-year-old William Styron confided to his father in a letter he wrote on May 1, 1952. Styron would not publish his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Confessions of Nat Turner until 1967, but this letter undercuts those critics who later attacked the writer as an opportunist capitalizing on the heated racial climate of the late 1960s. From 1943 to 1953, Styron wrote over one hundred letters to William C. Styron, Sr., detailing his adventures, his works in progress, and his ruminations on the craft of writing. In Letters to My Father , Styron biographer James L. W. West III collects this correspondence for the first time, revealing the early, intimate thoughts of a young man who was to become a literary icon.

Styron wrote his earliest letters from Davidson College, where he was very much unsure of himself and of his prospects in life. By the last few letters, however, he had achieved a great he had earned a commission in the Marine Corps, survived World War II, published the novel Lie Down in Darkness (1951) and the novella The Long March (1953), and won the Prix de Rome. He had also recently married and was about to return to the United States from an expatriate period in Paris and Rome.

The letters constitute a portrait of the artist as a young man. They read like an epistolary novel, with movement from location to location and changes in voice and language. Styron was extremely close to his father and quite open with him. His story is a classic one, from youthful insecurity to artistic self-discovery, capped by recognition and success. There are challenges along the way for the hero―poor academic performance, a syphilis scare, writer's block, temporary frustration in romance. But Styron overcomes these difficulties and emerges as a confident young writer, ready to tackle his next project, the novel Set This House on Fire (1960).

Rose Styron, the author's widow, contributes a prefatory memoir of the senior Styron. West has provided comprehensive annotations to the correspondence, and the volume also has several illustrations, including facsimiles of some of the letters, which survive among Styron's papers at Duke University. Finally, there is a selection of Styron's apprentice fiction from the late 1940s and early 1950s. In all of American literature, no other extended series of such letters―son to father―exists.

Letters to My Father offers a unique glimpse into the formative years of one of the most admired and controversial writers of his time.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

William Styron (1925–2006), born in Newport News, Virginia, was one of the greatest American writers of his generation. Styron published his first book, Lie Down in Darkness, at age twenty-six and went on to write such influential works as the controversial and Pulitzer Prize–winning The Confessions of Nat Turner and the international bestseller Sophie’s Choice.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Styron is one of my favorite writers, and, as such, I read not only what he wrote but a good deal about him also.

This small volume is a recently released group of letters he wrote to his father over a period of approximately 10 years, most of the letters during the time he was struggling to write and complete his first successful book, Lie Down in Darkness.

The early letters in this volume consist of his requests for financial support from his dad as well as reports on his progress, or lack of progress, on this novel.

I enjoyed following Styron’s development from an unsure, young author through the publication and success of his first novel.

With its publication and success, his letters show a growth in confidence as well as his enjoyment of spending time in Europe.

There are only three letters from his father back to him, but between Styron’s letters to his dad and these three replies, it’s quite clear that the support of his father (financially and morally) were of great importance to Styron and to Styron’s success.

[Lorri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I became thoroughly involved in Letters to My father from the first page to the last. It is fascinating on many levels, insightful, poignant, and filled with the stuff that inspirational memoirs are made of.

The father-son relationship reigns supreme within the pages of this beautifully composed book of over one hundred letters plus additional content. The letters were written by Styron to his father, William C. Styron, Sr.

This reader was completely taken in from page one, and finished Letters to My Father, basically nonstop. I came up for air to eat, but the book was beside me while I did.

It is one of those books that are difficult to let go of because of the emotional involvement of the reader. It is an extremely inspiring book. I highly recommend Letters to My Father to everyone, not only to fathers and sons.

[Bodhi Verboon · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 voor de brieven — Styron verwoordt mijn angsten met betrekking tot schrijven beter dan dat ik dat zelf kan. (vooral wanneer hij exact dezelfde leeftijd heeft als ik, dat was een beetje angstaanjagend)

3 voor alle additional content — misschien ligt het aan mij, maar na de enkele brieven van zijn vader had het wat mij betreft op mogen houden. Er is niks mis met de korte verhalen, sterker nog, er valt een hoop te zeggen voor het bijvoegen van de verhalen waar de lezer tot dan toe dus enkel óver gelezen heeft, maar naar mijn idee kleurde het delen van het verhaal in die kleurloos meer ruimte schiepen, beter af waren.