I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft

The title of the review says it all. This two-volume set is a massive expansion of S. T. Joshi's already-monumental  H.P. Lovecraft: A Life , originally printed by Necronomicon Press in 1996. I Am Providence restores more than 150,000 words cut from that previous edition and, at over 1,000 pages (both volumes combined), is THE most detailed, most thorough, and--above all else--most *accurate* biography of H. P. Lovecraft ever published.S. T. Joshi is the world's leading expert on Lovecraft, and immediately upon publication  H.P. Lovecraft: A Life  became the definitive bio of the Gentleman from Providence--easily superseding L. Sprague De Camp's loathsome, criminally-inaccurate  Lovecraft; A Biography, . I Am Providence in turn supersedes A Life, and is an absolute must for any scholar of HPL's life and works, and a valuable addition to even the casual Lovecraft fan's library. I Am Providence dispels many myths about Lovecraft, especially those perpetuated by De Camp's vile text. Drawing on literally thousands of primary sources, including Lovecraft's own manuscripts and notes housed at the John Hay Library at Brown University, as well as the *thousands* of surviving letters Lovecraft wrote to his many, many friends and correspondents, I Am Providence is as much an AUTObiography as it is a critical supplement to HPL's own personal revelations.In I Am Providence you shall find the man laid bare (most often in his own words): the spoiled, but brilliantly precocious, boy; the depressed, reclusive young man whose discovery of amateur journalism expanded his horizons and made him literally hundreds of friends; the stuffy New England blue-stocking racist whose utter hatred of "non-Teutonic" foreigners and untermenschen can be seen peeping out of much of his fiction; the horrible poet who wasted many years aping Georgian verse before finally realizing his boundless fictional prowess; the staunch atheist and materialist (practically the Richard Dawkins of his day!) who nonetheless created an entire mythology of "godlike" alien entities; the man intimately tied to his hometown of Providence whose mind, nonetheless, reached into the limitless cosmos and brought back ideas that would come to define not only 20th Century horror, but also science-fiction and fantasy.Throughout the book you will find each and every one of Lovecraft's stories, their content and inspirations and history, discussed at length by Joshi, himself a prodigious literary critic. Though I disagree--sometimes vehemently--with Joshi's opinions regarding certain texts, his analyses of Lovecraft's texts are extensive and provide the reader with a complete view of the evolution of Lovecraft's style, philosophy of composition, and stunning originality.Again, let me reiterate: this is THE definitive critical biography of H. P. Lovecraft, and as such is worth every penny.NOTE: I have no idea why the item title of this volume appends "[Abridged]"--this is the first volume of the completely UNabridged, full biography of Lovecraft!

Very comprehensive, mostly unbiased. Joshi has spent a large chunk of his life researching this book and has also made efforts to keep it up to date. That's admirable dedication. He does tend to include critique of any works mentioned, which are not always unwelcome. Though S.T. Joshi's opinions on the artistic merits of literature are about as relevant to the material as what I use as a bookmark, it is nice to hear about Lovecraft's growth in technique in an academic sense. Another mild issue is that sometimes Joshi seems unusually divorced from understanding the way the human mind works, often citing patterns of behavior or influences that almost certainly reinforce or explain something, then wondering why that something is the case. He also has a tenancy to flaunt his vocabulary unnecessarily to the slightest detriment to accessibility. Overall, a comprehensive look at Lovecraft that does not try to downplay Lovecraft's negative traits, while also putting those in perspective so that we might judge the man with full context. Also this book led me to Clark Ashton Smith's work, which I thank it for. Good.

Part one, of a very long book on a very uninteresting person. Don't get me wrong, Lovecraft wrote interesting books, and had an interesting impact on the future of horror and weird fiction; but as a human being he was about as boring as a person could possibly be. Mr. Joshi obviously disagrees, and spends hundreds of pages on minutia (Lovecraft's dietary habits, his wardrobe, numerous day trips to quaint locations, etc...). On the surface, the book is quite tedious. Perhaps very interesting in those who are scholars, or obsessed, but for the rest of us... not as much.But... there is something far more interesting and amusing here. It reads like a bit of existential fiction by someone like Borges; a minute examination of a banal life, thousands of everyday things, all documented in exquisite detail. There is no end to it, nothing is minor enough to be left out. It is a thing of beauty, in a perverse way. It reminds me of a portrait I saw at the Milwaukee Art Museum; the photorealistic work "Nancy" by the artist Chuck Close. A highly detailed painting of a "comely" woman, every pore and stray hair painted in loving detail, no flaw left unrepresented, everly blemish tenderly rendered onto canvas... Though the art of painting, the homely woman becomes beautiful, if through nothing but the loving attention and artistic devotion. This book can be seen as the literary equivalent of this.Also, I love the unintentional humor of the author stating "this is well known, so I won't cover it in depth", followed by 40 pages of commentary.

This is one of the most detailed, exhaustively-researched biographies I have ever read! I don't know how many years this took the author to write, but I could tell the book(s) were a real labor of love. Joshi is the world's major expert on the life and works of HPL. I find Lovecraft a fascinating person, and I've read and re-read his work many times over 55 years. Joshi reviews/evaluates the short stories and novels from a literary-critical viewpoint, and although I don't always agree with his conclusions, I learned a lot from these reviews. This is a two-volume biography, of over 1000 pages, so if you haven't read any long "life/times of...," you may "bog down." I read lots of lengthy novels/histories, etc. and always enjoy them-- I certainly liked "I am Providence."

I am still reading this book on my Kindle reader, as it is my carrying read for when I am out of the house; I am about 60% through it at the moment. The research that went into this book is quite astonishing and must have taken every living moment of the author's time! He is not an adoring fan but points out HP Lovecraft's failings and character faults without flinching, which makes for a very interesting result.

Loved every minute of this very deep dive into the life and emanations of HPL. If you want the nitty gritty, from falling on his head while exploring to loving every cat he came across to his varied travels and powerful friendships, along with plenty of idiosyncracies, plus, this is for you. Thank you S T Joshi. Fascinating. Now for the letters.

This is probably close to the ultimate in special-interest literature, but is an excellent and probably definitive bio of HPL. As it is only the first of a two-volume biography it is probably not for the casual reader but for fans of HPL's work it is essential reading.  I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft, Volume 2  is required reading once you finish this one. I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft, Volume 2

Superb. Lots of previously unknown (by me) stuff here. Very erudite.

The package came right on my birthday which I did expect at all, I'm really enjoying the book at the moment.