Faulkner: A Biography

"Frankly, Blotner’s biography is the original and, in my view, the best. There have been astounding contributions to biographical studies of Faulkner, including those by Frederick R. Karl, Robert W. Hamblin, and Carl Rollyson, to name only a few. However, Blotner’s account set a benchmark, a gold standard, for all the biographers who followed in his wake. The case can be made that, because of Blotner and Faulkner’s relationship, Blotner was not the best or most objective choice of a biographer for Faulkner. After all, on his deathbed, Faulkner describes Blotner as his “spiritual son.” Yet, despite their closeness, Blotner tells many uncomfortable truths about Faulkner in his biography. For me, the moment that most stands out is his account of Faulkner’s reaction to the suicide of Ernest Hemingway in 1961. Blotner reveals that Faulkner explicitly condemned Hemingway’s suicide, declaring that “‘It’s bad when a man does something like that. It’s like saying death is better than living with my wife.’…The next time Red Hanbury saw Faulkner the reaction had crystallized further. ‘I don’t like a man that takes the short way home,’ he said.” Faulkner’s reaction has always astounded and troubled me, but, if not for Blotner, his unflattering response may have been lost to history. So, Blotner’s work is an indispensable tool when trying to come to grips with Faulkner’s complexities and flaws—both as a man and as an author."