Lovecraft: A Biography

This biography relates a paradoxical, ironic literary life–that of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, who never had a book of stories published in his lifetime, but who became a best-selling author after death; who died in obscure poverty, convinced of his failure, but who is now hailed as an important writer of the 20th century; who was a self-proclaimed misanthrope, but who collected a circle of devoted friends who remember him fondly as one of the kindest & most delightful people they ever knew. The author relates his peculiar upbringing, bizarre habits & preferences, his tragicomic careers, his role in the development of science fiction & his posthumous triumph–revealing how this strange neurotic man transformed his nightmares into the wonderful stories that have made him an influential & important literary figure.
Lovecraft: A Biography is by sf writer L. Sprague de Camp, 1st published by Doubleday in 1975. The subsequent paper edition (’76) from Ballantine was an abridgement, for which the author deleted some text, notes, bibliography & index. De Camp was reportedly unhappy about having to remove the end matter. The work, a warts-&-all examination of the horror writer, was the 1st major independent biography of Lovecraft. The approach has been called frank & judicious by some, unflattering & unbalanced by others. It’s been supplanted as the definitive biography by S.T. Joshi’s H.P. Lovecraft: A Life (’96).