Postscript: The Faulkner quote in the New York Times Book Review is taken out of context: He was trying to hide his alcoholism and multiple personality.

Yesterday’s post needs further explanation for those who don’t know about William Faulkner’s life and have not read my posts on him.

When Faulkner said that it was the writing, not the writer, that deserves attention, he was reacting with outrage against the plan of an investigative reporter to write a magazine article about him. He feared that two things would be found out.

First, he didn’t want the general public to know that he was an alcoholic. However, this was probably not his main fear, since his drinking was an open secret, and other famous writers had been known for drinking, too.

Second—related to his multiple personality, and probably his main worry—he feared it would become known that he had, on different occasions, given contradictory answers to personal questions. The most embarrassing example of this were the answers he had given about his war record. He knew that he had sometimes told stories that were not true. Additionally, he had a local reputation for sometimes behaving oddly and out-of-character.

I don’t know that Faulkner ever thought of himself as having multiple personality. Possibly all he knew was he had said and done things that later embarrassed him. He probably blamed some of it on his drinking. But some had happened when he was sober. So he didn’t want anyone investigating his personal life.

When Faulkner said to his daughter that nobody remembers Shakespeare’s children, his premise was that everybody does remember Shakespeare, himself. And in this case, he did approve of remembering the author and not just his work.