The Golden Bowl (Manfred novel)
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'''''The Golden Bowl''''' is the first novel by [[Frederick Manfred]] (1912-1994) published in 1944 under his birth name Feike Feikema.{{r|Bronte}} Manfred insisted on this title, which is identical to Henry James' better known novel, even when his friend [[Sinclair Lewis]] argued against it. |
'''''The Golden Bowl''''' is the first novel by [[Frederick Manfred]] (1912-1994) published in 1944 under his birth name Feike Feikema.{{r|Bronte}} Manfred insisted on this title, which is identical to Henry James' better known novel, even when his friend [[Sinclair Lewis]] argued against it. |
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== Plot == |
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The novel is set during the [[Dust Bowl]] in [[Oklahoma]]. It follows a few months in the life of Maury Grant, an itinerant farm boy whose family has been wiped out in the disaster. Grant becomes a reluctant hired hand at the Thor family farm in southwestern [[South Dakota]], leaving them in despair of the hopelessness of their situation, returning a few weeks later and, Manfred implies, remaining. The last pages depict a "black blizzard" with gripping vividness. |
The novel is set during the [[Dust Bowl]] in [[Oklahoma]]. It follows a few months in the life of Maury Grant, an itinerant farm boy whose family has been wiped out in the disaster. Grant becomes a reluctant hired hand at the Thor family farm in southwestern [[South Dakota]], leaving them in despair of the hopelessness of their situation, returning a few weeks later and, Manfred implies, remaining. The last pages depict a "black blizzard" with gripping vividness. |
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== Background == |
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Manfred drew on his life experience to write the story. He grew up on an [[Iowa]] farm, then after graduating from college, he struck out to see the country, [[hobo]]ing west to [[Yellowstone]] and back. ''The Golden Bowl'' is based on those adventures and his firsthand experience of the Dust Bowl. (Many years later, Manfred would write a memoir of his cross-country adventure, ''The Wind Blows Free.'') |
Manfred drew on his life experience to write the story. He grew up on an [[Iowa]] farm, then after graduating from college, he struck out to see the country, [[hobo]]ing west to [[Yellowstone]] and back. ''The Golden Bowl'' is based on those adventures and his firsthand experience of the Dust Bowl. (Many years later, Manfred would write a memoir of his cross-country adventure, ''The Wind Blows Free.'') |
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