William Humphrey, Destroyer of Myths by Bert Almon

This is the first full-length study of the life and writings of the Texas novelist, William Humphrey, who died August 21, 1997. Based on research in Humphrey's vast archives at the University of Texas, it provides the first full picture of his life and identifies many untraced sources of his work. The guiding principle is an exploration of Humphrey's satire on life-destroying myths: the myths of the hunter, the South, the cowboy hero, the Depression-era outlaw, and, supremely, the myth of Texas. To his dismay, Humphrey was often seen as a celebrator of these myths.

The novels discussed are Home from the Hill, The Ordways, A Time and a Place, Proud Flesh, Farther Off from Heaven, Hostages to Fortune, Open Season, No Resting Place, September Song. Attention is also given to his superb sports writings.

This critical biography joins the other books in the Texas Writers Series: Elmer Kelton and West Texas: A Literary Relationship; Benjamin Capps and the South Plains: A Literary Relationship; The Texas Legacy of Katherine Anne Porter; Larry McMurtry and the West: An Ambivalent Relationship; Rolando Hinojosa and the American Dream.

BERT ALMON has taught modern literature and creative writing at the University of Alberta since 1968. He has published eight collections of poetry and a Western Writers Series monograph on Gary Snyder. He held a Mellon Fellowship at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas and a Hawthornden Fellowship in Poetry. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

#6 Texas Writers Series

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William Humphrey, Destroyer of Myths
ISBN 1-57441-044-X $25.00s

5x7. 240 pp. Bib. Index.
Literary Criticism. Western Writing and Criticism.

Publication Date: April 1998.

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