M. Allen Cunningham
BOOKS:
L o s t S o n
To mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of Cunningham's
Lost Son, Cunningham returned to his files to share pictures
from his travels and research for the book. Read the resulting post,
"Rilke & Me: From Prague to Muzot," HERE.
[You] feel gradually, in joy and astonishment, the magic of Rilke reach out from every page. Lost Son is at once a subtle and signal imaginative achievement.
--Ihab Hassan
Gripping and beautifully written...incredibly ambitious.
--Strand Books, New York
Lost Son, a novel by
M. Allen Cunningham
(Unbridled Books, 2007)
M. Allen Cunningham
(Unbridled Books, 2007)
LISTEN to Cunningham reading from Lost Son for KQED Radio, San Francisco:
I'm not sure it’s right to see Lost Son simply as a fictional biography of Rilke. It is also Cunningham’s spiritual autobiography, his own fierce identification with the poet’s commitment to art...mesmerizing. --The Oregonian
Exquisitely written...Cunningham delves deep into Rilke's personality and his development as a poet... Lost Son is a vast monument to the power of the creative spirit. --Curled Up with a Good Book
Lost Son is...awe-inspiring in the depth of research Cunningham has done to produce the book and in the depth of understanding the novel reveals regarding Rilke’s life, his struggles, his loves, and his literary work.--Steve Turnbull, Nougat Magazine
At the age of 29 [Cunningham] has now published two novels of remarkable depth and beauty.--Kay Callison
Lost Son is the story of poet Rainer Maria Rilke, an artist unique in the modern age. From Rilke’s troubled beginnings — reared as a girl until age six, then sent to military school for five miserable years — through his later experiences in the midst of World War I, Lost Son dramatizes the troubles and triumphs this immensely vulnerable personality encountered as he made his way in the modern world.
Lost Son brings Rilke’s significant relationships powerfully alive, including his close friendships with the sculptor Rodin and the German expressionist painter Paula Modersohn-Becker. At the heart of the novel is Rilke’s legendary attachment to his one-time lover and lifelong muse, the incomparable Lou Andreas-Salomé—confidante of Nietzsche, and later, Freud.
More than a fictionalized biography, Lost Son is framed by a bewitched young figure traveling in Rilke’s footsteps generations after the poet’s death. The result is a dark and intimate fantasia on Rilke’s art, an exploration of the forever imperfect loyalties one faces in life, and a lyrical meditation upon the distances that can separate life and art.
Lost Son brings Rilke’s significant relationships powerfully alive, including his close friendships with the sculptor Rodin and the German expressionist painter Paula Modersohn-Becker. At the heart of the novel is Rilke’s legendary attachment to his one-time lover and lifelong muse, the incomparable Lou Andreas-Salomé—confidante of Nietzsche, and later, Freud.
More than a fictionalized biography, Lost Son is framed by a bewitched young figure traveling in Rilke’s footsteps generations after the poet’s death. The result is a dark and intimate fantasia on Rilke’s art, an exploration of the forever imperfect loyalties one faces in life, and a lyrical meditation upon the distances that can separate life and art.
Additional Interview Links, etc.
- M. Allen Cunningham interviewed at length by Kay Callison about his novel Lost Son, Rainer Maria Rilke, Lou Andreas-Salome, Clara Westhoff, Paula Becker, Auguste Rodin (unedited transcript 2007)
- An interview with M. Allen Cunningham about Lost Son and Cunningham's approach to biographical fiction is featured in Truthful Fictions: Conversations with American Biographical Novelists, edited by Michael Lackey, released February 2014 by Bloomsbury. Have a look at the interview HERE.
- Cunningham's Lost Son receives in-depth consideration in Artistic Individuality: A Study of Selected 20th Century Artist Novels by Živilė Gimbutas (2013). The other novels considered in the study are Willa Cather's The Song of the Lark, James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, W. Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence, Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle, John Updike's Seek My Face, and Virgina Woolf's To the Lighthouse.
- Six Questions About the Novel Lost Son & its Protagonist Rilke
PRAISE for Lost Son
*One of The Oregonian's Top 10 books of 2007*
* A Featured Hardcover at the Village Voice Bookshop, Paris *
*One of The Oregonian's Top 10 books of 2007*
* A Featured Hardcover at the Village Voice Bookshop, Paris *
"Lost Son is . . . awe-inspiring in the depth of research Cunningham has done to produce the book and in the depth of understanding the novel reveals regarding Rilke’s life, his struggles, his loves, and his literary work.
Covering the years of Rilke’s life from 1875-1917, Lost Son covers a period of time when Europe was undergoing many dramatic and tumultuous changes. Entire countries were being devoured and rearranged. Art, literature, architecture, and poetry were being re-imagined and readied for the twentieth century and Cunningham has painted a rich portrait of those changing times." --Steve Turnbull, Nougat Magazine
"How wonderful to open a novel by an author you do not know, and to feel gradually, in joy and astonishment, the magic of Rilke reach out from every page. Lost Son is at once a subtle and signal imaginative achievement, putting readers on notice: an extraordinary talent has come upon the scene."--Ihab Hassan, author of The Dismemberment of Orpheus, The Literature of Silence, Selves at Risk, and many other books
"What an inspiring, serious, and seriously beautiful book this is. Lost Son caught me up into its inner and outer landscapes for days and days, and it lingers with me still. Cunningham beautifully captures the experience of writing. Rilke's constant search for the place to write—and for the listener to write toward—gives Lost Son a creative tension and urgency I find very moving. I am grateful for this book."
--Harriet Scott Chessman, author of Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper and Someone Not Really Her Mother
"An exquisitely written homage to [the] famous artist ... Moving from Rilke's birth in 1875 to his death in 1926, Cunningham delves deep into Rilke's personality and his development as a poet, in the process shaping a portrait of a man formed by his dark, unfinished past. ... Vivid, melodic, and retaining a lyrical beauty throughout, Cunningham writes with a passionate commitment to Rilke's poetry and life. Meticulously researched and seamlessly infusing fact with fiction, Lost Son is a vast monument to the power of the creative spirit and a grand testament to the artistic avant-garde movements that swept across Europe at the beginning of the 20th century."--Curled Up with a Good Book
"Cunningham's writing is beautiful and fluid. I found myself torn, lingering over passages and yet eager to rush on...For a writer not yet 30, Cunningham has achieved a mature style and authentic voice in Lost Son. He shows how Rilke cultivated the sense of dislocation that fostered his best work, especially during the years he lived in Paris "namelessly alone," witnessing the terrifying scenes he would mold into the feverish visions of his alter ego Malte, the Prodigal Son, 'a man who didn't want to be loved.' But I'm not sure it's right to see Lost Son simply as a fictional biography of Rilke. It is also Cunningham's spiritual autobiography, his own fierce identification with the poet's commitment to art...mesmerizing."--The Oregonian
"So sensitive and sad—as befits a poet—that it sent me to the obvious destination: a book of Rilke's poems."--Good Housekeeping
"Gripping and beautifully written...incredibly ambitious."--Strand Books, New York
"Cunningham has taken risks...and he has succeeded in producing an offbeat and absorbing literary work." --Library Journal
"Lyrical and moving."--Booklist
"Cast[s] a spell."--Bloomsbury Review
"Powerful...the perfect amalgamation of imagination and research...This haunting and very human story allows readers to catch a glimpse of the artist's soul."--Annie Blooms Booksellers
"[Lost Son] is amazing...beautifully written...My reading was slowed by my tendency to periodically put the book down and say, "Huh," followed by several minutes of staring into space and pondering deep questions about what it means to be an artist, or in love, or memories of illness, or childhood, or family. I read a large chunk of Lost Son when the weather was cold and gray and rainy. My mood, the tone of the book, and that weather all seemed to be playing notes in the same minor chord...Cunningham has matched the plot to the characters to the style so well."--Purple Primate Bookseller Blog
" Rainer Maria Rilke, I hope that your spirit is hovering somewhere close to earth so that you've been able to absorb this meticulous, respectful and gentle book on your life and poetry."
--January Magazine
"From the opening pages the reader is transported to turn-of-the-last-century Europe, and Cunningham does a wonderful job of depicting Rilke's world in a strikingly visceral fashion...More importantly, Rilke emerges from the narrative as a complex figure."--Small Press Reviews
"This is no dry biography. Rather, with beautifully expressive prose, M. Allen Cunningham is able not only to evoke the poet's angst, but also to get the reader to empathize with it....You'll want to savor every word. I found myself buying Cunningham's previous novel and starting to read Rilke's poems."--Historical Novels Review
Covering the years of Rilke’s life from 1875-1917, Lost Son covers a period of time when Europe was undergoing many dramatic and tumultuous changes. Entire countries were being devoured and rearranged. Art, literature, architecture, and poetry were being re-imagined and readied for the twentieth century and Cunningham has painted a rich portrait of those changing times." --Steve Turnbull, Nougat Magazine
"How wonderful to open a novel by an author you do not know, and to feel gradually, in joy and astonishment, the magic of Rilke reach out from every page. Lost Son is at once a subtle and signal imaginative achievement, putting readers on notice: an extraordinary talent has come upon the scene."--Ihab Hassan, author of The Dismemberment of Orpheus, The Literature of Silence, Selves at Risk, and many other books
"What an inspiring, serious, and seriously beautiful book this is. Lost Son caught me up into its inner and outer landscapes for days and days, and it lingers with me still. Cunningham beautifully captures the experience of writing. Rilke's constant search for the place to write—and for the listener to write toward—gives Lost Son a creative tension and urgency I find very moving. I am grateful for this book."
--Harriet Scott Chessman, author of Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper and Someone Not Really Her Mother
"An exquisitely written homage to [the] famous artist ... Moving from Rilke's birth in 1875 to his death in 1926, Cunningham delves deep into Rilke's personality and his development as a poet, in the process shaping a portrait of a man formed by his dark, unfinished past. ... Vivid, melodic, and retaining a lyrical beauty throughout, Cunningham writes with a passionate commitment to Rilke's poetry and life. Meticulously researched and seamlessly infusing fact with fiction, Lost Son is a vast monument to the power of the creative spirit and a grand testament to the artistic avant-garde movements that swept across Europe at the beginning of the 20th century."--Curled Up with a Good Book
"Cunningham's writing is beautiful and fluid. I found myself torn, lingering over passages and yet eager to rush on...For a writer not yet 30, Cunningham has achieved a mature style and authentic voice in Lost Son. He shows how Rilke cultivated the sense of dislocation that fostered his best work, especially during the years he lived in Paris "namelessly alone," witnessing the terrifying scenes he would mold into the feverish visions of his alter ego Malte, the Prodigal Son, 'a man who didn't want to be loved.' But I'm not sure it's right to see Lost Son simply as a fictional biography of Rilke. It is also Cunningham's spiritual autobiography, his own fierce identification with the poet's commitment to art...mesmerizing."--The Oregonian
"So sensitive and sad—as befits a poet—that it sent me to the obvious destination: a book of Rilke's poems."--Good Housekeeping
"Gripping and beautifully written...incredibly ambitious."--Strand Books, New York
"Cunningham has taken risks...and he has succeeded in producing an offbeat and absorbing literary work." --Library Journal
"Lyrical and moving."--Booklist
"Cast[s] a spell."--Bloomsbury Review
"Powerful...the perfect amalgamation of imagination and research...This haunting and very human story allows readers to catch a glimpse of the artist's soul."--Annie Blooms Booksellers
"[Lost Son] is amazing...beautifully written...My reading was slowed by my tendency to periodically put the book down and say, "Huh," followed by several minutes of staring into space and pondering deep questions about what it means to be an artist, or in love, or memories of illness, or childhood, or family. I read a large chunk of Lost Son when the weather was cold and gray and rainy. My mood, the tone of the book, and that weather all seemed to be playing notes in the same minor chord...Cunningham has matched the plot to the characters to the style so well."--Purple Primate Bookseller Blog
" Rainer Maria Rilke, I hope that your spirit is hovering somewhere close to earth so that you've been able to absorb this meticulous, respectful and gentle book on your life and poetry."
--January Magazine
"From the opening pages the reader is transported to turn-of-the-last-century Europe, and Cunningham does a wonderful job of depicting Rilke's world in a strikingly visceral fashion...More importantly, Rilke emerges from the narrative as a complex figure."--Small Press Reviews
"This is no dry biography. Rather, with beautifully expressive prose, M. Allen Cunningham is able not only to evoke the poet's angst, but also to get the reader to empathize with it....You'll want to savor every word. I found myself buying Cunningham's previous novel and starting to read Rilke's poems."--Historical Novels Review