A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text

In the spring semester of 2007, Chancellor's Honors Program students had a the opportunity to engage in a course entitled, "James Agee's America," taught by Dr. Michael Lofaro, Professor of English at the university and leading scholar on the life and writings of James Agee.

Agee was born in Knoxville in 1909, and lived in the city with his father and mother until his father was killed in a car accident in 1916. Agee attended several boarding schools and after graduating from high school, was admitted to Harvard University where he became editor-in-chief of the Harvard Advocate. Upon graduation, he wrote for Fortune and Time magazines, and became a respected film critic.

James Agee died in 1955, before finishing work on his autobiographical novel, A Death in the Family. The manuscript was edited by a family friend, and the resulting book won a posthumously awarded Pulitzer Prize for Agee in 1957. However, the prize winning autobiography contained significant revisions to Agee’s original manuscript.

Many of Agee's original writings were kept from the public for years due to an overly protective friend of the estate who refused any further review of Agee's work. However, the new head of the James Agee Trust has allowed scholars to pour over the once restricted writings. Dr. Lofaro discovered ten missing handwritten chapters that were intended for inclusion in A Death in the Family, along with letters and unpublished poetry and screenplays.

Lofaro has reconstructed Agee's life story, presenting it the way he believes the author intended. The result is a 600-page book entitled, A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text.