Late Faulkner

Abstract

The last two decades of Faulkner’s life were a remarkable mix. The 1940s marked the pinnacle of his screenwriting career (‘To Have and Have Not’, ‘The Big Sleep’). Malcolm Cowley’s The Portable Faulkner was published, but more importantly Sanctuary and Pylon enjoyed great success as paperbacks, luridly packaged to maximize sales. Hollywood made a successful movie out of Intruder in the Dust; Faulkner’s notoriety at home became a match for his fame abroad, and by the end of the decade he had won the Nobel Prize. His money worries were, if not definitively over, greatly alleviated. He took on a new role as an American goodwill ambassador, involved himself in the debate about race relations during the most important social upheaval in the United States since the Civil War, acquired a second home as writer-in-residence at the University of Virginia, and became a member of a prestigious society of foxhunters, a gentleman in a pink coat who rode to hounds. It was also a period during which he suffered desperately from self-doubt, constantly worried that he was written out, and became unsure about his ability to tell good writing from bad. The problems with alcohol that eventually cut short his life continued unabated, with many more visits to clinics where he could dry out from his drinking sessions.