Citation

Sandweiss E. Rethinking History 2017; 21(1): 103-119.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017)

DOI

10.1080/13642529.2016.1270564

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Novelist Ross Lockridge, Jr., killed himself months after the publication of his highly publicized novel, Raintree County. Why? This article seeks an answer in the writer's conflicted relationship to History: of his country, of his family (including his father, the best-known historian in his home state of Indiana), of his own grand ambitions. Lockridge had crafted a fictional hero, Johnny Shawnessy, who sought to 'hear the words before the words become History.' For the writer himself-and, subsequently, for his children, who carry on the family quest to reveal historical truth-History has proved a harder burden to overcome. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Language: en

Keywords

Fiction; Indiana; literary; literature; Lockridge; novels; Raintree County; suicide