Badge of Courage

"“A brilliant and powerful portrait of Stephen Crane that stands as a monument to biography as a literary art. Filled with fresh insights into Crane’s personality, informed by an astonishing mastery of the entire body of his writing, and based on exhaustive research in all the available primary sources, this magnificent book is by far the best biography written of the creator of The Red Badge of Courage.” —Stephen B. Oates “Davis . . . cuts through the [Crane] legend and romance with what appears to be a sharp, clean scalpel . . . It is his work, not his influence, that still commands our attention. Linda Davis has done it, and him, what looks to be full justice.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post “Davis has written an impressive biography, with many fascinating facts about Crane’s rough-and-tumble career, series of romantic liaisons and adventurous writing.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times “Linda H. Davis gives us not only a complete and engaging account of Crane’s brief life, but also a compelling invitation to reread his work.” —James Hynes, The American Scholar “Informative and affectionate . . . It’s evident that the biographer likes her subject; her affection for Crane’s eccentricities, nerve, and courage animates her work.” —John Noel Turner, The Boston Globe “With Davis’ superb Badge of Courage . . . readers can be captivated anew by the personality and story of this strangely charismatic, tragically doomed novelist, poet and journalist . . . Davis’s great achievement is in making the reader care about Crane—to share his frustrations, be annoyed by his shortcomings and genuinely regret his early demise.” —Neil A. Grauer, The Baltimore Sun “Davis’s life of Crane, initially inspired by curiosity and fueled by increasing admiration for the man and his work, is what a life should be—well-written, fair-minded, and spirited.” —The Atlantic “This biography will serve as the best guide to an American original.” —Ralph B. Sipper, San Francisco Chronicle “Vividly evokes a young writer who lived as hard as he wrote, and who left behind some of the best American fiction of his time.” —Greg Johnson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Crane couldn’t have asked for a more just, accurate, or eloquent biographer.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist “Outstanding . . . beautifully done.” —Roger Bishop, BookPage ""(Crane) is a biographer’s dream . . . the Crane who emerges from these pages is fascinating.” —Brooke Horvath, The Plain Dealer “Engrossing . . . [Davis] makes real the remarkable author who vowed he ‘would not be bossed by anyone’ and who dedicated himself to the conquest of fear, both in his life and in his writing . . . Her book does what quality literary biography ought to do –sparks fresh fascination with the writing that established Crane’s fame.” —Vince Kohler, The Sunday Oregonian"