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Erskine Caldwell was an American novelist and short story writer who depicted poverty and social problems in the South. He wrote best-selling novels such as Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre, and reported from the USSR during World War II.
Erskine Caldwell was an American author whose unadorned novels and stories about the rural poor of the American South mix violence and sex in grotesque tragicomedy. His works achieved a worldwide readership and were particularly esteemed in France and the Soviet Union.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Tobacco Road Erskine Caldwell.
- God's Little Acre Erskine Caldwell, Lewis Nordan (Foreword by)
- Georgia Boy Erskine Caldwell, Roy Blount Jr. (Foreword)
- Journeyman Erskine Caldwell, Edwin T. Arnold (Foreword by)
- Early Life and Education
- Early Career
- Late Career
- Legacy
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Born December 17, 1903, in Coweta County, Caldwell was the only child of Caroline “Carrie” Bell, a schoolteacher, and Ira Sylvester Caldwell, a minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian (A.R.P.) Church. Ira’s work led the family to move frequently. By the time Erskine was fifteen, he and his parents had lived in Georgia, Florida, the Carolina...
Caldwell broke into print as a student at the University of Virginia with an essay entitled “The Georgia Cracker” (1926), which contained many of the themes that he later treated in fiction: political demagoguery, racial injustice, depraved religion, cultural sterility, and social irresponsibility. Most of his early fiction was published in short m...
After the great work of the 1930s, Caldwell’s fiction declined significantly. The beginning of the decline coincided with the death of his father, who ha d been a steady and enthusiastic source of support and encouragement. The turmoil of his personal life also took its toll. Moreover, he believed that the optimal powers of a creative writer lasted...
Considering the great volume of Erskine Caldwell’s work, the quality might be expected to be uneven. Much of his early writing is among the best in American literature. That writing lodges in the reader’s memory. One does not forget the characters and circumstances described in Tobacco Road, God’s Little Acre, and many of the short stories. Caldwel...
A comprehensive biography of the Georgia-born author of Tobacco Road, God's Little Acre, and You Have Seen Their Faces. Learn about his life, works, themes, and legacy in American literature.
Erskine Caldwell was an American author who wrote about poverty, racism and social problems in the South. His books include Tobacco Road, God's Little Acre, Georgia Boy and others.
- (22.4K)
- April 11, 1987
- December 17, 1903
Erskine Caldwell, the author of Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre, talks about his writing career, his influences, and his style in this 1982 interview. He discusses his early years in the South, his oral storytelling tradition, his passion for writing, and his views on rules and language.
Apr 13, 1987 · Erskine Caldwell, the prolific novelist whose accounts of deprivation and depravity in the Depression-era Deep South brought him instant fame and instant notoriety, died of lung cancer Saturday...
