Emblems of Conduct
AuthorDonald Windham
Original titleEmblems of Conduct
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreAutbiography
PublisherScribner
Publication date
1963
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback), e-book
Pages224 (paperback edition)
ISBN0-820-31841-8

Emblems of Conduct is a book by American writer Donald Windham, first published in 1963. It is a personal memoir, an account of his early life in Atlanta.

Background

After publishing The Hero Continues, a novel based on the life of Tennessee Williams, in 1960, Windham started publishing recollections of his childhood in Atlanta in the New Yorker.[1] The series of recollections grew into the personal memoir Emblems of Conduct.[1][2] It was first published in book form by Scribner in 1963.[3][4] The book is thus an account of him growing up in the city of Atlanta, and it follows The Warm Country, a collection of stories about the same city, published in 1962.[5]

Plot

The book tells about Windham growing up in Atlanta during the Depression, as his family, which had once been prosperous, gradually becomes impoverished.[3] The Victorian home of the family, a remainder of their prosperous past, is demolished, and young Donald keeps a piece of stained glass as a reminder of "fading grandeur".[3][6] Meanwhile his mother is struggling to cope with the situation, and is forced to rely on her relatives.[3] The book covers Windham's childhood, through his graduation from high school and his decision to move to New York City thereafter.[7] It evokes "with faint but unmistakable nostalgia the Atlanta of the early decades of the modern century."[8]

Reception

Emblems of Conduct is a highly-regarded personal memoir by Windham. The book was warmly received.[1][2] The success of this work allowed Windham to publish the collection of short stories The Warm Country.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Donald Windham and Sandy Campbell". Windham Campbell Prizes. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 Grimes, William. "Donald Windham, Novelist and Memoirist, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Solomon, Charles (22 September 1996). "Emblems of Conduct by Donald Windham..." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Mattachine Society (1963). Mattachine Review - Volumes 9-12. Arno Press. p. 31. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. ↑ Ruppersburg, Hugh (2011). Ruppersburg, Hugh; Inscoe, John C. (eds.). The New Georgia Encyclopedia Companion to Georgia Literature. University of Georgia Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780820343006. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  6. ↑ "Donald Windham and Sandy Campbell". Windham Campbell Prizes. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Kibler, James E.; Giles, James Richard (1980). American Novelists Since World War II - Second Series. Gale Research Company. p. 380. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Ruppersburg, Hugh, ed. (1992). Georgia Voices: Nonfiction. University of Georgia Press. p. 220. ISBN 9780820316260. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
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