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Forging Fame - by Craig Abbott (Hardcover)

Forging Fame - by  Craig Abbott (Hardcover) - 1 of 1
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About this item

Highlights

  • If poets are "liars by profession," Sharmel Iris was truly professional.
  • About the Author: Craig Abbott, a professor emeritus of Northern Illinois University, is author of several studies on modern American poetry.
  • 204 Pages
  • Biography + Autobiography, Literary Figures

Description



About the Book



If poets are "liars by profession," Sharmel Iris was truly professional. Poet, plagiarist, imposter, and forger, Iris engaged in a lifelong campaign of self-promotion that linked him to a constellation of leading writers and public figures--among them T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Joyce Kilmer, Ezra Pound, Dame Edith Sitwell, Diego Rivera, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Wrigley, and Woodrow Wilson. "Of poets writing today, there is no greater,"states a preface, signed by W.B. Yeats, to one of Iris's volumes of poetry--although at the time of publication Yeats had been dead for several years.

As a child, Iris had emigrated from Italy with his mother, who arrived in Chicago in pursuit of the American dream. Driven by ambition and narcissism, he began publishing poetry in 1905, participated in the Chicago Renaissance, and continued publishing until two years before his death in 1967.

With energy and persistance, the minor Chicago poet insinuated himself among the great and famous and simulated a life of literary stardom. Iris's self-projection as a neglected poetic genius often was designed to translate into monetary value, while confirming his role behind the scenes of 20th-century literary history.

Examining Iris's grandiose fantasy, Abbott exposes his forgery, plagiarism, and imposture. Granting Iris the attention he haplessly courted all his life, Abbott discovers a forger of fame whose story provides a commentary, often parodic, on the place of poetry in his time.



Book Synopsis



If poets are "liars by profession," Sharmel Iris was truly professional. Poet, plagiarist, imposter, and forger, Iris engaged in a lifelong campaign of self-promotion that linked him to a constellation of leading writers and public figures, among them T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Joyce Kilmer, Ezra Pound, Dame Edith Sitwell, Diego Rivera, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Wrigley, and Woodrow Wilson. "Of poets writing today, there is no greater," states a preface, signed by W. B. Yeats, to one of Iris's volumes of poetry--although at the time of publication Yeats had been dead for several years. Examining Iris' grandiose fantasy, Craig Abbott exposes his forgery, plagiarism, and imposture.

As a child, Iris had emigrated from Italy with his mother, who arrived in Chicago in pursuit of the American dream. Driven by ambition and narcissism, he began publishing poetry in 1905, participated in the Chicago Renaissance, and continued publishing until two years before his death in 1967. With energy and persistance, the minor Chicago poet insinuated himself among the great and famous and simulated a life of literary stardom. Iris's self-projection as a neglected poetic genius often was designed to translate into monetary value, while confirming his role behind the scenes of twentieth-century literary history. Granting Iris the attention he haplessly courted all his life, Abbott discovers a forger of fame whose story provides a commentary, often parodic, on the place of poetry in his time.



Review Quotes




Jaw-dropping in places, Abbott's book entertains beyond a constant escalation of Iris' audacity and narcissism. There is also much wit.

-- "Chronicle of Higher Education"

Once picked up, cannot easily be put down.

-- "Midwest Book Review"



About the Author



Craig Abbott, a professor emeritus of Northern Illinois University, is author of several studies on modern American poetry.

Dimensions (Overall): 8.76 Inches (H) x 6.61 Inches (W) x .8 Inches (D)
Weight: 1.14 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 204
Genre: Biography + Autobiography
Sub-Genre: Literary Figures
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
Format: Hardcover
Author: Craig Abbott
Language: English
Street Date: July 16, 2007
TCIN: 94496309
UPC: 9780875803760
Item Number (DPCI): 247-14-1631
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 0.8 inches length x 6.61 inches width x 8.76 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1.14 pounds
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