Alice Roosevelt Longworth
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About the James A. Michener
James Albert Michenerwas an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales and incorporating detailed history. Many of his works were bestsellers and were chosen by the Book of the Month Club. He was also known for the meticulous research that went into his books.
Michener’s books include Tales of the South Pacific, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948; Hawaii; The Drifters; Centennial; The Source; The Fires of Spring; Chesapeake; Caribbean; Caravans; Alaska; Texas; Space; Poland; and The Bridges at Toko-ri. His non-fiction works include Iberia, about his travels in Spain and Portugal; his memoir, The World Is My Home; and Sports in America. Return to Paradise combines fictional short stories with Michener’s factual descriptions of the Pacific areas where they take place.
His first book was adapted as the popular Broadway musical South Pacific, by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and later as eponymous feature films in 1958 and 2001, adding to his financial success. A number of his other stories and novels were adapted for films and TV series.
He also wrote Presidential Lottery: The Reckless Gamble in Our Electoral System, in which he condemned the United States’ Electoral College system. It was published in 1969, and republished in 2014 and 2016.
Frequently Asked Questions
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- 1.
I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.
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- 2.
It takes courage to know when you ought to be afraid.
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- 3.
I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.
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- 4.
Russia, France, Germany and China. They revere their writers. America is still a frontier country that almost shudders at the idea of creative expression.
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- 5.
I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century: that a writer never complains, never explains and never disdains.
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- 6.
If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.
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- 7.
An age is called Dark not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it.
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- 8.
The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.
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- 9.
I was a Navy officer writing about Navy problems and I simply stole this lovely Army nurse and popped her into a Navy uniform, where she has done very well for herself.
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- 10.
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.
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- 11.
For this is the journey that men and women make, to find themselves. If they fail in this, it doesn’t matter much else what they find.
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- 12.
Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.
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- 13.
The arrogance of the artist is a very profound thing, and it fortifies you.
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- 14.
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.
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- 15.
They were a group of two dozen nurses completely surrounded by 100,000 unattached American men.
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- 16.
Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.
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- 17.
There are no insoluble problems. Only time-consuming ones.
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- 18.
The really great writers are people like Emily Bronte who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.
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