The Resource Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella, William Steele
Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella, William Steele
Resource Information
The item Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella, William Steele represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Austin Public Library.This item is available to borrow from 5 library branches. This resource has been enriched with EBSCO NoveList data.
Resource Information
The item Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella, William Steele represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Austin Public Library.
This item is available to borrow from 5 library branches.
This resource has been enriched with EBSCO NoveList data.
- Summary
- This frank and authoritative biography explores the life and often controversial work of W.P. Kinsella, the author who penned iconic lines such as "If you build it, he will come." Kinsella's work was thrust into the limelight when, in the spring of 1989, his novel Shoeless Joe was turned into the international blockbuster Field of Dreams. With the success of Shoeless Joe, Kinsella's other works began to gain more attention as well, including a popular series of short stories narrated by a young Cree, Silas Ermineskin. Although many readers praised the stories for their humour and biting social commentary, Kinsella's success reignited criticism of his appropriation of Indigenous voices for his own benefit, and of what some claimed was overt racism. For Kinsella, this censure was mitigated by the commercial success of the Silas Ermineskin stories. After scraping by as a taxi driver and restaurant owner, and later as a writing instructor, Kinsella took great satisfaction in being able to make a living from writing alone. Achievement in his professional life was tempered by chaos in his personal life, including health problems, failed marriages and a tumultuous romantic relationship with writer Evelyn Lau that resulted in a highly public libel lawsuit. When long-term kidney issues resurfaced causing acute pain, Kinsella made his final arrangements. Never one to shy away from controversy, he made it clear to his agent that his decision to end his life by physician-assisted suicide must be mentioned in the press release following his death. Though friends and family would remember him as stubborn, complicated, curmudgeonly, honest, loyal and a host of other adjectives, Kinsella answered, "I'm a story teller [and] my greatest satisfaction comes from leaving [while] making people laugh and also leaving them with a tear in the corner of their eye." Having been granted full access to Kinsella's personal diaries, correspondence and unpublished notes, and with hours of personal interviews with Kinsella, his friends and his family, biographer William Steele offers insight into Kinsella's personal life while balancing it with the critical analysis and commentary his fiction has inspired
- Language
- eng
- Extent
- 293 pages, viii pages of plates
- Contents
-
- Six hundred miles from anywhere
- Edmonton
- The lost years
- Back to school
- Iowa
- Desolate U
- "If you build it..."
- Goodbye, desolate U.
- Trouble on the reserve
- "...He will come"
- "Nowhere to go but down"
- The gin runs out
- Isbn
- 9781771621946
- Label
- Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella
- Title
- Going the distance
- Title remainder
- the life and works of W.P. Kinsella
- Statement of responsibility
- William Steele
- Subject
-
- trueAssisted suicide
- trueBaseball in literature
- Biographies
- trueHumorists
- trueIndians of North America in literature
- Kinsella, W. P
- trueMen -- Personal conduct
- trueMen/women relations
- truePublic opinion
- trueScandals
- trueShort story writers
- trueStereotypes (Social psychology)
- trueAuthors, Canadian -- 20th century
- trueAuthors, Canadian -- 20th century -- Biography
- Language
- eng
- Summary
- This frank and authoritative biography explores the life and often controversial work of W.P. Kinsella, the author who penned iconic lines such as "If you build it, he will come." Kinsella's work was thrust into the limelight when, in the spring of 1989, his novel Shoeless Joe was turned into the international blockbuster Field of Dreams. With the success of Shoeless Joe, Kinsella's other works began to gain more attention as well, including a popular series of short stories narrated by a young Cree, Silas Ermineskin. Although many readers praised the stories for their humour and biting social commentary, Kinsella's success reignited criticism of his appropriation of Indigenous voices for his own benefit, and of what some claimed was overt racism. For Kinsella, this censure was mitigated by the commercial success of the Silas Ermineskin stories. After scraping by as a taxi driver and restaurant owner, and later as a writing instructor, Kinsella took great satisfaction in being able to make a living from writing alone. Achievement in his professional life was tempered by chaos in his personal life, including health problems, failed marriages and a tumultuous romantic relationship with writer Evelyn Lau that resulted in a highly public libel lawsuit. When long-term kidney issues resurfaced causing acute pain, Kinsella made his final arrangements. Never one to shy away from controversy, he made it clear to his agent that his decision to end his life by physician-assisted suicide must be mentioned in the press release following his death. Though friends and family would remember him as stubborn, complicated, curmudgeonly, honest, loyal and a host of other adjectives, Kinsella answered, "I'm a story teller [and] my greatest satisfaction comes from leaving [while] making people laugh and also leaving them with a tear in the corner of their eye." Having been granted full access to Kinsella's personal diaries, correspondence and unpublished notes, and with hours of personal interviews with Kinsella, his friends and his family, biographer William Steele offers insight into Kinsella's personal life while balancing it with the critical analysis and commentary his fiction has inspired
- Biography type
- individual biography
- http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI
- 10766574
- Cataloging source
- VP@
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
- 1973-
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
- Steele, William
- Dewey number
- 813/.54
- Illustrations
-
- illustrations
- plates
- Index
- index present
- LC call number
- PR9199.3.K443
- LC item number
- Z865 2018
- Literary form
- non fiction
- Nature of contents
- bibliography
- http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
- True
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- Kinsella, W. P
- Authors, Canadian
- http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/titleRemainder
- the life and works of W.P. Kinsella
- Label
- Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella, William Steele
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Six hundred miles from anywhere -- Edmonton -- The lost years -- Back to school -- Iowa -- Desolate U -- "If you build it..." -- Goodbye, desolate U. -- Trouble on the reserve -- "...He will come" -- "Nowhere to go but down" -- The gin runs out
- Control code
- on1056745771
- Dimensions
- 24 cm
- Extent
- 293 pages, viii pages of plates
- Isbn
- 9781771621946
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- Other physical details
- illustrations
- System control number
- (OCoLC)1056745771
- Label
- Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella, William Steele
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Six hundred miles from anywhere -- Edmonton -- The lost years -- Back to school -- Iowa -- Desolate U -- "If you build it..." -- Goodbye, desolate U. -- Trouble on the reserve -- "...He will come" -- "Nowhere to go but down" -- The gin runs out
- Control code
- on1056745771
- Dimensions
- 24 cm
- Extent
- 293 pages, viii pages of plates
- Isbn
- 9781771621946
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- Other physical details
- illustrations
- System control number
- (OCoLC)1056745771
Subject
- trueAssisted suicide
- trueBaseball in literature
- Biographies
- trueHumorists
- trueIndians of North America in literature
- Kinsella, W. P
- trueMen -- Personal conduct
- trueMen/women relations
- truePublic opinion
- trueScandals
- trueShort story writers
- trueStereotypes (Social psychology)
- trueAuthors, Canadian -- 20th century
- trueAuthors, Canadian -- 20th century -- Biography
Genre
Library Locations
-
-
Little Walnut Creek BranchBorrow it835 W. Rundberg Lane, Austin, TX, 78758, US30.3632362 -97.6984619
-
Manchaca Road BranchBorrow it5500 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX, 78745, US30.2166039 -97.79733689999999
-
-
Spicewood Springs BranchBorrow it8637 Spicewood Springs Rd., Austin, TX, 78759, US30.4337083 -97.7730809
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.library.austintexas.gov/portal/Going-the-distance--the-life-and-works-of-W.P./msyK5ROruWc/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.library.austintexas.gov/portal/Going-the-distance--the-life-and-works-of-W.P./msyK5ROruWc/">Going the distance : the life and works of W.P. Kinsella, William Steele</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.library.austintexas.gov/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="http://link.library.austintexas.gov/">Austin Public Library</a></span></span></span></span></div>
