Losing Battles
Losing Battles is the last novel written by Eudora Welty. It was released on April 13, 1970.[1] The novel's setting is two days—a Sunday and Monday morning—in a 1930s farm in Mississippi.[1] Losing Battles was her first novel to make the best seller lists, to the surprise of Welty.[2]
Development
Welty wrote the novel as a challenge to herself. In an interview for the The Paris Review, she said:
Welty set the novel in the 1930s because she wanted to write about "a family who had nothing" and the Depression provided that opportunity.[2] Originally, Welty had not planned on writing a novel, in the Paris Review interview she said "I’m a short-story writer who writes novels the hard way, and by accident".[2]
The first edition of the novel was published on Welty's 61st birthday.[1]
Reception
Reception of the novel was generally very positive, with many critics praising its "geniality and humour".[3] New York Times reviewer and academic James Boatwright gave strong praise to the novel, calling it "a beautiful and valuable novel" which had an "overwhelming effect [that] is comic—lyrical and touching."[1] Joyce Carol Oates was not as enthusiastic, describing the novel as entertainment, and less successful at probing the "psychological concerns" of the characters.[3] Scholar Larry J. Reynolds challenged that assessment, noting that "beneath its entertaining surface [is an] intense struggle for survival [...] subtly and carefully told."[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Boatwright, James (April 12, 1970). "'I call this a reunion to remember, all!'". New York Times Books.
- 1 2 3 Kuehl, Linda (1972-01-01). "Eudora Welty, The Art of Fiction No. 47". Paris Review (55). ISSN 0031-2037. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
- 1 2 3 Reynolds, Larry J. (1978-01-01). "Enlightening Darkness: Theme and Structure in Eudora Welty's "Losing Battles"". The Journal of Narrative Technique. 8 (2): 133–140. JSTOR 30225638.