Palmer R.B. Nineteenth-Century American Fiction on Screen

New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. — 278 p.The process of translating works of literature to the silver screen is a rich field of study for both students and scholars of literature and cinema. The fourteen essays collected here provide an up-to-date survey of the important films based on, or inspired by, nineteenth-century American fiction, from James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans to Owen Wister’s The Virginian. Several of the major works of the American canon are examined, notably The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, and Sister Carrie. The starting point of each essay is the literary text itself, the focus then moving on to describe specific aspects of the adaptation process, including details of production and reception. Written in a lively and accessible style, the book includes production stills and full filmographies. With its companion volume on twentiethcentury fiction, this study offers a comprehensive account of the rich tradition of American literature on screen.R. Barton Palmer holds Ph.D. degrees from Yale University (medieval studies) and New York University (cinema studies) and has published widely in those two fields. He is Calhoun Lemon Professor of English at Clemson University, directs the Film Studies Program at Clemson, and is the Director of the South Carolina Film Institute.