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 First edition cover | |
| Author | James Agee |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 1957 (McDowell, Obolensky) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 339 pp |
| OCLC | 123180486 |
A Death in the Family is anautobiographical novel byJames Agee. It was based on events which occurred to Agee in 1915, when his father went out of town to see his own father, who had suffered aheart attack. During the return trip, Agee's father was killed in a car crash.
The novel provides a portrait of life inKnoxville, Tennessee, showing how such a loss affects the young widow, her two children, heratheist father and the deceasedalcoholic brother.
Agee commenced work on the novel in 1948. It was still incomplete at the time of his death in 1955. Reputedly, many portions had been written in the home of his friendFrances Wickes.[1]
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It was edited and released posthumously in 1957 by editor David McDowell. Agee's widow and children were left with little money after Agee's death and McDowell wanted to help them by publishing the work.
University of Tennessee professor Michael Lofaro maintains that the novel as published in 1957 was not the version intended for print by the author. Lofaro discussed his work at a conference that was part of the Knoxville James Agee Celebration (April 2005). Having tracked down the author's original manuscripts and notes, Lofaro reconstructed a version he considers more authentic. This version, entitledA Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text, was published in 2007 as part of the 10-volume setThe Collected Works of James Agee (University of Tennessee Press). Lofaro is also the author ofAgee Agonistes: Essays on the Life, Legend, and Works of James Agee (2007).[2]
According to Lofaro, McDowell's alterations include:
Agee won thePulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1958 for the novel. The novel was included onTime's List of the 100 Best Novels released between 1923 and 2005.[3]
The novel was adapted intoAll the Way Home byTad Mosel. The play won a 1961Pulitzer Prize.
A film entitledAll The Way Home (1963), adapted by Philip H. Reisman, Jr. from the Agee novel and the Mosel play, was filmed in the same Knoxville neighborhood where Agee grew up.
A TV-movie presentation ofAll the Way Home, starringJoanne Woodward andRichard Kiley, aired on NBC in 1971 as a presentation of theHallmark Hall of Fame.
A live version of the play aired on television in 1981 starringSally Field andWilliam Hurt. It was broadcast live onNBC from the Bing Theatre on the campus of theUniversity of Southern California.
ATV movie adaptation filmed in Tennessee and starringAnnabeth Gish, aired on PBS in 2002.[4]
Samuel Barber wroteKnoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947, revised 1950) on commission from the AmericansopranoEleanor Steber, who had asked for a work for soprano with orchestra.
William Mayer wrote anopera based on the novel; it premiered in 1983.[5]
A stage musical debuted in 2022 titledKnoxville, writtenFrank Galati with music byStephen Flaherty and lyrics byLynn Ahrens. A "universal coming-of-age story about family, faith and love—and the boy who will grow up to write it. With a sweeping musical score blending folk, bluegrass and ballads." Knoxville was in rehearsals for its world premiere at theAsolo Repertory Theatre in 2020 but was forced to stop because of the pandemic. The show had its world premiere in 2022.[6]
