Electronic book text | |
November 20, 2014 | |
9781611175035 | |
English | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.25 Inches (US) | |
$24.99 USD | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Song of My Life
A Memoir
Petrakis recounts the near-fatal childhood illness, which confined him to bed for two years and, through hours of reading during the day and night, nurtured his imagination and compulsion toward storytelling. A high school dropout, Petrakis also recalls his work journey in the steel mills, railroad depots, and shabby diners of the city. There is farce and comedy in the pages as he describes the intricate framework of lies that drove his courtship of Diana, who has been his wife of sixty-nine loving years. Petrakis shares his struggles for over a decade to write and publish and finally, poignantly describes the matchless instant when he holds his first published book in his hands. The chapters on his experiences in Hollywood where he had gone to write the screenplay of his best-selling novel A Dream of Kings are as revealing of the machinations and egos of moviemaking as any Oliver Stone documentary.
Petrakis's individual story, as fraught with drama and revelation as the adventures of Odysseus, comes to an elegiac conclusion when, at the age of ninety, he ruminates on his life and its approaching end. With a profound and searing honesty, this self-exploration of a solitary writer's life helps us understand our own existences and the tapestry of lives connecting us together in our shared human journey.
Reviews
"A work of lyrical power and poignancy that may prove to be the most important works Petrakis has produced in a writing career that spans nearly six decades."—Spencer Michael Farmans, Sun-Times
"The extraordinarily candid Song of My Life offers insights into the nature of an American literary life of the past five decades and it is must-reading for anyone seeking an account of the life of a legendary Greek American writer. The memoir deals with many experiences not chronicled in Petrakis's previous autobiographical writings, among these firsts are his vivid accounts of working on television projects and Hollywood films. The style is vintage Petrakis: storytelling with a fine blend of passion, humor, and self-reflection."—Dan Georgakas, director of the Greek American Studies Project, Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Queens College, City University of New York
Electronic book text | |
November 20, 2014 | |
9781611175035 | |
English | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.25 Inches (US) | |
$24.99 USD | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Other Titles by Harry Mark Petrakis
A Dream of Kings
Other Titles from Non Series
A Guidebook to South Carolina Historical Markers
Live at Jackson Station
Monumental Harm
Other Titles in BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
Finding the Right Words
On Foot to Canterbury
Light the Road of Freedom