Revision #6856

William Saroyan was born in Fresco, California, as the son of an Armenian Immigrant. His father moved to New Jersey in 1905 where he was forced to take farm labouring work. After going through the writings of his father Saroyan decided to became a writer. His first collected stories were published in "The Overland Monthly". Many of his stories were based on his childhood experiences among the Armenian-American fruit growers of the San Joaquin Valley or dealt with tge rootlessness of the immigrant. He has been described in a Dickinson College news release as "one of the most prominent literary figures of the mid-20th century" and by Stephen Fry as "one of the most underrated writers of the [20th] century." Fry suggests that "he takes his place naturally alongside Hemingway, Steinbeck and Faulkner." As a writer, Saroyan made his breakthrough in Story magazine with "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" (1934), the title taken from the nineteenth century song of the same title. The protagonist is a young, starving writer who tries to survive in a Depression-ridden society.

— dg200128, 2017-12-19 05:31:43