{"product_id":"backstory-a-literary-life-on-the-run-paperback","title":"Backstory: A Literary Life on the Run - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDean Faulkner Wells\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eLawrence Wells\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor every published article there is a backstory of behind-the-scenes adventures. Between 1980 and 2000, Dean Faulkner Wells and Lawrence Wells traveled coast to coast on magazine assignments. \u003cem\u003eBackstory: A Literary Life on the Run \u003c\/em\u003ereveals how unexpected events played a major role in each article. The collection of twenty-five articles begins with Dean's interview with Willie \"Suicide\" Jones, her late father's wing walker and fellow barnstormer, and ends with Dean's fond recollection of a childhood Christmas at Rowan Oak, home of her uncle William Faulkner.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn between, the couple travels to Wounded Knee, scene of the tragic massacre of Big Foot and his band of Sioux, where Dean tears out a lock of hair and ties it to a fence in spiritual kinship. In Little Rock, the couple spends an evening with authors Charles Portis and Dee Brown. In San Francisco, they interview California jazz artists \"Wild Mango\" and singer\/guitarist Joyce Cooling. They drive the Santa Fe Trail and tour Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Texas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are personal moments such as attending author Budd Schulberg's wedding reception in Montauk, New York, and dining at the home of Jackson Pollock's widow, Lee Krasner. At a Memorial Day party on Long Island, film star Lauren Bacall tells Dean, \"Hey, you sound more like me than me!\" In Daphne, Alabama, Dean visits her longtime friend Peets Buffett, mother of Jimmy Buffett. In a Louisiana swamp, Larry has trouble finding an alligator to photograph until Dean points to a gator dozing at his feet. In Las Vegas, Dean's addiction to slot machines leads to a domestic squabble. Ultimately, \u003cem\u003eBackstory \u003c\/em\u003ereveals a marriage of mind and spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDean Faulkner Wells\u003c\/b\u003e (1936-2011), niece and ward of William Faulkner and the daughter of Dean Swift Faulkner, William's youngest brother, was educated at the University of Mississippi and University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her first book was \u003ci\u003eThe Ghosts of Rowan Oak: William Faulkner's Ghost Stories for Children\u003c\/i\u003e. Wells edited \u003ci\u003eThe New Great American Writers' Cookbook\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Best of Bad Faulkner\u003c\/i\u003e and authored an autobiography, \u003ci\u003eEvery Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi\u003c\/i\u003e. Her articles have been published in \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review, Parade, Ladies' Home Journal, Southern Living\u003c\/i\u003e, and other magazines. \u003cb\u003eLawrence Wells\u003c\/b\u003e edited \u003ci\u003eWilliam Faulkner: The Cofield Collection\u003c\/i\u003e, by Jack Cofield, and \u003ci\u003eRIOT: Witness to Anger and Change\u003c\/i\u003e, by Ed Meek. He wrote three historical novels, \u003ci\u003eRommel and the Rebel, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eLet the Band Play Dixie, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFair Youth\u003c\/i\u003e; scripted the Emmy-winning PBS documentary \u003ci\u003eReturn to the River\u003c\/i\u003e narrated by James Earl Jones; and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Syndicate. Wells's autobiographies, \u003ci\u003eIn Faulkner's Shadow: A Memoir \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eGhostwriter: Shakespeare, Literary Landmines, and an Eccentric Patron's Royal Obsession\u003c\/i\u003e, were published by University Press of Mississippi.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 234\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.53 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 17, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45593939804295,"sku":"9781496863249","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/lPP_m5yW-B9781496863249.webp?v=1787151012","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/backstory-a-literary-life-on-the-run-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}