''A Death in the Family'' is an

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. His autob ...

. It was based on events which occurred to Agee in 1915, when his father went out of town to see his own father, who had suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. During the return trip, Agee's father was killed in a car crash.

Premise

The novel provides a portrait of life in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, showing how such a loss affects the young widow, her two children, her

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

father and the deceased

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

brother.

Background

Agee commenced work on the novel in 1948. It was still incomplete at the time of his death in 1955. Reputedly, many portions had been written in the home of his friend Frances Wickes.

Publication

It was edited and released posthumously in 1957 by editor David McDowell. Agee's widow and children were left with little money after Agee's death and McDowell wanted to help them by publishing the work.

Earlier draft

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

professor Michael Lofaro maintains that the novel as published in 1957 was not the version intended for print by the author. Lofaro discussed his work at a conference that was part of the Knoxville James Agee Celebration (April 2005). Having tracked down the author's original manuscripts and notes, Lofaro reconstructed a version he considers more authentic. This version, entitled ''A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text'', was published in 2007 as part of the 10-volume set ''The Collected Works of James Agee'' (University of Tennessee Press). Lofaro is also the author of ''Agee Agonistes: Essays on the Life, Legend, and Works of James Agee'' (2007). According to Lofaro, McDowell's alterations include: * The removal of the original opening, a nightmare scene, and its substitution with "Knoxville: Summer of 1915," a previously published short work of Agee's that was not intended as part of the novel. * A reordering of the presentation of events, which were originally shown in chronological order. * Chapters were removed. * Chapters were divided. * Certain chapters were moved and presented as flashbacks. * The number of chapters was changed from forty-four short chapters to twenty.

Critical reception and awards

Agee won the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

in 1958 for the novel. The novel was included on ''Time'''s List of the 100 Best Novels released between 1923 and 2005.

Adaptations

The novel was adapted into ''All the Way Home'' by

Tad Mosel Tad Mosel (May 1, 1922 – August 24, 2008) was an American playwright and one of the leading dramatists of hour-long teleplay genre for live television during the 1950s. He received the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' All the Way H ...

. The play won a 1961

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

. A film entitled '' All The Way Home'' (1963), adapted by Philip H. Reisman, Jr. from the Agee novel and the Mosel play, was filmed in the same Knoxville neighborhood where Agee grew up. A TV-movie presentation of ''All the Way Home'', starring

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American retired actress. She made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a characteristic nuance and depth of character. ...

and

Richard Kiley Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor and singer. He is best-known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Kile ...

, aired on NBC in 1971 as a presentation of the

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

. A live version of the play aired on television in 1981 starring

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has performed in movies, Broadway theater, television, and made records of popular music. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accola ...

and

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. For his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Cannes Film Festival Award for B ...

. It was broadcast live on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from the Bing Theatre on the campus of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. A

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

adaptation filmed in Tennessee and starring

Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She played roles in the films '' Shag'', '' Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', '' SLC Punk!'', '' The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Spe ...

, aired on PBS in 2002.

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

wrote ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' (1947, revised 1950) on commission from the American

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Eleanor Steber Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914October 3, 1990) was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States. Life and career E ...

, who had asked for a work for soprano with orchestra. William Mayer wrote an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

based on the novel; it premiered in 1983. A stage musical debuted in 2022 titled ''

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

'', written

Frank Galati Frank Joseph Galati (November 29, 1943 – January 2, 2023) was an American director, writer, and actor. He was a member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company and an associate director at Goodman Theatre. He taught at Northwestern University for many ...

with music by

Stephen Flaherty Stephen Flaherty (born September 18, 1960) is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals ''Ragtime'', wh ...

and lyrics by

Lynn Ahrens Lynn Ahrens (born October 1, 1948) is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years. She won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Aw ...

. A "universal coming-of-age story about family, faith and love—and the boy who will grow up to write it. With a sweeping musical score blending folk, bluegrass and ballads." Knoxville was in rehearsals for its world premiere at the

Asolo Repertory Theatre The Asolo Repertory Theatre or Asolo Rep (AKA: Asolo Theatre Company, Inc.) is a professional theater in Sarasota, Florida. It is the largest Equity theatre in Florida, and the largest Repertory theatre in the Southeastern United States. Asolo ...

in 2020 but was forced to stop because of the pandemic. The show had its world premiere in 2022.
/ref>

References

External links

Photos of the first edition of A Death in the Family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Death In the Family, A 1957 American novels 2007 American novels Pulitzer Prize for Fiction–winning works American autobiographical novels American novels adapted into films Culture of Knoxville, Tennessee American novels adapted into plays Novels set in Appalachia Novels set in East Tennessee Fiction set in 1915 Novels published posthumously Novels about death American novels adapted into operas