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MAX AND MARJORIE by Rodger L. Tarr

MAX AND MARJORIE

The Correspondence between Maxwell E. Perkins and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

edited by Rodger L. Tarr

Pub Date: Nov. 1st, 1999
ISBN: 0-8130-1691-6
Publisher: Univ. Press of Florida

The editor a writer dreams of and the writer an editor yearns for come to life in this exchange of letters. Maxwell Perkins, of course, is the legendary editor of Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald when they were being published by Scribner’s. Majorie Kinnan Rawlings, best known for her novel The Yearling, came to Perkins’ attention when she submitted a story for a contest being run by Scribner’s magazine. The first exchange of letters in 1930 established a pattern that would continue until Perkins died in 1947, for a total of 698 letters, notes, and telegrams, according to editor Tarr (Illinois State Univ.; Poems by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, 1997). Perkins praises the story (eventually published as “Jacob’s Ladder”) and then gently offers specific suggestions for revisions, recommending a completely new ending. Rawlings responds with gratitude (“I appreciate your painstaking criticism”) and complies with a rewrite. From then on, Perkins in his Manhattan office and Rawlings in her Florida backwater formed a team that would lead to commercial and artistic success, including a Pulitzer Prize. Even as Rawlings’ international reputation grew, Perkins coaxed her in new directions, often urging her to rethink plot, character, and organization. She was almost always receptive to his suggestions, even as she grew more confident of her abilities as a writer. Besides literary debate, their letters were full of gossip and news of mutual friends (Hemingway stories abound), as well as mundane discussions of deadlines, page proofs, and remuneration. Perkins would often send her the latest books from the Scribner list, and she would send him crates of oranges along with funny stories and introductions to talented friends (Zora Neale Hurston was one writer she recommended). The evolution of a literary partnership at its best, with Rawlings revealing the anguish, frustration, and fulfillment of a dedicated writer’s life and Perkins the empathy and unwavering standards of a remarkable editor. (Facsimiles, 6 b&w photos, most not seen.)