James A. Michener was an American phenomenon, but his interests
were global and his writings are universal in scope. The very first extensive listing of works by and about JAM
was compiled by F.X. Roberts and C.D. Rhine, both Professors of Library Science
at the University of Northern Colorado (where Michener had once taught), and
published in 1995. Their checklist/bibliography* of works by and about James A.
Michener attempted to reflect this universality by listing all of Michener’s
major as well as many of his minor writings, and by providing an extensive
annotated selection of writings about James Michener which have appeared in books
and periodicals from the 1920’s to the present. Although filling 125 pages, it
was by no means exhaustive, nor did it pretend to be. It was a beginning, and
the authors intended a solid foundation upon which others might build. They
succeeded.
* Roberts, F.X. and Rhine, C.D. James A. Michener: A Checklist of His
Works, with a Selected, Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 1995.
If a writer is prolific enough, he produces one more book than he
may realize - his bibliography. Someone else will compile it, of course, but a
descriptive listing of a writer's life work can be book length. James
Michener's bibliography, for instance, fills a book of 336 pages, about the
size of an average novel (but not one of Michener's average novels). Compiled
by David A. Groseclose, ''James A. Michener: A Bibliography,'' has been
published by State House Press**.
Michener's career as a successful writer had its start with four short
sentences, the beginning of his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, ''Tales of the
South Pacific'':
''I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it
actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called
islands.''
The book beginning with those sentences was published in 1948.
While not having quite as famous an opening as ''Call me Ishmael,'' Michener's
first novel was the beginning of a whale-size body of work. In the nearly
half-century since then, Michener has gone on to write hundreds of other
beginnings, followed by uncounted hundreds of thousands of other sentences.
While his total words and sentences remain uncounted, coming up
with the number of Michener titles has proven a bit easier, though definitely a
major project.
The numbers: 69 books, 23 of them novels, from ''Tales of the South
Pacific'' to his last work, a collection of sonnets. In addition to the books,
Michener's bibliography includes 135 contributions to anthologies, collections
and books; 78 forewords, introductions and miscellaneous pieces of commentary;
271 magazine articles; and 127 newspaper articles. In all, 680 works - roughly
one piece a month.
Of this impressive ouevre, which began when the author was in his
40s, two books deal with Michener's adopted home state of Texas: the 1096-page
novel ''Texas'' (published in 1985 and subsequently translated in 10 different
languages) and ''The Eagle and the Raven,'' published in 1990. Michener also
has done five forewords for various Texas-related books and three magazine
articles dealing with some aspect of Texas.
The bibliography also includes books about or related to Michener,
audio and video materials by or about Michener, magazine and newspaper articles
about Michener and major reviews of Michener's work.
Under ''Michener Miscellany'' are noted a coffee cup and T-shirt
bearing the author's likeness. In all, there are more than 2,500 entries in
this annotative bibliography, the work of a Phoenix lawyer who is a dedicated
Michener collector.
Even a casual perusal of this bibliography shows that little has
escaped Michener's attention during his long literary career. He has written
about everything from Texas to Japanese art, from the space program to sports,
from politics to the art of writing.
Groseclose's bibliography is an outstanding work of scholarship, a valuable reference for collectors, researchers, librarians, Michener fans - anyone with an appreciation for belles lettres.
Though this bibliography only lists 78 forewords, introductions and
pieces of miscellaneous commentary by Michener, he actually has done over 100.
He also wrote the foreword to this book. And in it, Michener offers a short
anecdote about, as he puts it, ''the vagaries of the written word.''
When he was 9 or 10 years old, while at a swimming hole in ''a trivial streamlet near our town'' (in Pennsylvania), he saw that one of his friends apparently was having trouble. Believing he was in danger of drowning, the future novelist swam out and helped the boy to shore. Someone witnessed this act of bravery and the story made the local paper the next day: ''Local Lad a Hero. Saves His Companion.''
A couple of days later, the youngster Michener believed he had
saved from drowning came and punched him in the nose.
''Saved my life? You nearly drowned me. Got in my way as I was
making it to shore,'' the boy said to Michener.
That was the end of a friendship, and as Michener wrote, ''I was left to ruminate, at that early age, on the vagaries of the printed word, a mystery which still perplexes me.''
While Michener continued at 90 to ponder this mystery, millions of readers are left to their own ruminations on the millions of printed words produced by this remarkable writer who decided to spend his final years in Texas.
Mike Cox, former Lubbock, TX, Avalanche-Journal reporter
**
Groseclose, David A. James A.
Michener: A Bibliography. Austin, TX:
State House Press, 1996.
N.B. - A limited number of copies of this First Edition are still available
directly from the author, a charter member of the Society.
To order a personalized, signed
copy, priority postage included, send a check for $25 to: Karen
Groseclose, 2355 E. Orangewood,
Two or more @ $20 each. (One
to read, one to track your collection…as we do.)