Travels with My Royal: A Memoir of the Writing Life (The Basque Series) - Hardcover

Laxalt, Robert

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9780874174854: Travels with My Royal: A Memoir of the Writing Life (The Basque Series)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0874174856 ISBN 13: 9780874174854

Publisher: University of Nevada Press, 2001

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Renowned Nevada writer Robert Laxalt has embraced a wide range of subjects in his nearly half-century career. In this candid memoir, he explores what is perhaps his most difficult subject ever—himself and his life as a writer.

The book opens with a series of vignettes about his youth in Carson City as the second son of an immigrant Basque family and his later experiences as a student at the University of Nevada in Reno.

The second part of the book tells of Laxalt's career as a writer—his early days as a reporter when his assignments included interviews with gangsters and obligatory attendance at executions; his later adventures as a contract writer for National Geographic, and his two stays in the Basque Country. He also recounts his days as director of the University of Nevada's news service and his role in the founding of the University of Nevada Press.

The third section discusses the writing of several of his major books—where the ideas came from, what he tried to accomplish in each book, the challenges he faced, and the ways he chose to resolve them. Foreword by Cheryll Glotfelty.

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About the Author:

Robert Laxalt graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1947. Laxalt joined the staff of the university in 1954, first as director of News and Publications and later as director of the University of Nevada Press, which he founded. He was named a Reynolds Distinguished Visiting Professor and held the position of Distinguished Nevada Author Chair. He is the author of seventeen books, including the critically acclaimedSweet Promised Land. He lived in Washoe Valley until his death in 2001."

From Publishers Weekly:

After 17 books and 20 years of National Geographic reportage, Laxalt lets readers peek behind the curtain at the man and his writing process. Divided into three parts "Growing Up," "Writing Days" and "Selected Books and How They Came To Be" Laxalt's anecdotal memoir describes the forces that shaped him personally and professionally, from his boyhood in Carson City, Nev., through his years as a globe-trotting journalist. In terse yet resonant prose, reminiscent of his previous works, he details how, as a United Press correspondent, he covered executions and interviewed gangsters. As a journalist for National Geographic, he traveled extensively, exploring the life of the gauchos in Argentina and traversing the spine of the Pyrenees. Equally compelling are poignant stories of his beloved Nevada and his Basque-immigrant family: his father was a sheepherder; his mother owned a hotel. In the final section he writes, "the creative process is largely unexplainable," but then deftly examines the nuts and bolts of some of his most important works, including Sweet Promised Land, still in print after 40 years. Readers are privy to the intersections between his outward life and his imagination, where plots and characters were born, and to the answers to the questions that each of his stories poses. For readers unfamiliar with Laxalt, this is a great introduction after putting it down, one wants to pick up his previous writings, both fiction and non.

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