Information AboutJohn Knowles |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT JOHN KNOWLES | |
| 1926 births | |
| knowles, john | |
| 2001 deaths | |
| american novelists | |
| people from west virginia | |
| west virginia writers | |
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A 1945 graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire , Knowles graduated from Yale University as a member of the class of 1949W. ''A Separate Peace'' is based upon Knowles' experiences at Exeter during the summer of 1943. The setting for The Devon School is a thinly veiled fictionalization of Phillips Exeter. The plot should not be taken as autobiographical, although many elements of the novel stem from personal experience. In his essay, "A Special Time, A Special Place," Knowles wrote: :The only elements in ''A Separate Peace'' which were not in that summer were anger, violence, and hatred. There was only friendship, athleticism, and loyalty. Gore Vidal , in his memoir ''Palimpsest'', acknowledges that he and Knowles concurrently attended Phillips Exeter, with Vidal two years ahead. Vidal states that Knowles told him that the character Brinker, who precipitates the novel's crisis, is based on Vidal. "We have been friends for many years now," Vidal said, "and I admire the novel that he based on our school days, ''A Separate Peace''." ''A Separate Peace'' is widely included on high-school curricula. The novel's possible homosexual subtext continues to stimulate spirited debate. Knowles's other significant works are ''Morning in Antibes'', ''Double Vision: American Thoughts Abroad,'' ''Indian Summer,'' ''The Paragon,'' and ''Peace Breaks Out.'' None of these later works were as well received as ''A Separate Peace.'' A resident of Southampton, New York , Knowles wrote seven novels, a book on travel and a collection of stories. He was the winner of William Faulkner Award and the Rosenthal Award of the National Institute Of Arts And Letters . In his later years, Knowles lectured to university audiences. SELECTED WORKS
Source: Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, 2004. Entry Updated : 10/14/2007 |
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