Erskine Caldwell: The Journey from Tobacco Road

This interesting but uneven biography of Caldwell (1903-1987), based on Miller's Harvard doctoral dissertation, examines the life of a volatile, rough-hewn novelist who had slipped sufficiently into obscurity that Miller had not even heard of Caldwell until 1989. Tobacco Road (1932) and God's Little Acre (1933) were celebrated for their unsparing depiction of the squalid lives of Southern farmers and laborers but also vilified for their sensationalism. The novels, according to Miller, might not have been published were it not for the guidance of celebrated Scribner's editor Maxwell Perkins and of Caldwell's first wife, Helen, who edited his work with a sensitivity that contrasted sharply with her husband's selfishness and irascibility. But Helen is sketchily characterized here; of Caldwell's four wives, only photographer Margaret Bourke-White emerges fully fleshed. Less vexing is Miller's sometimes inelegant prose, as it does not usually detract from the engaging story of a raw and impolitic writer's controversial career. Although his work was often banned as obscene or pornographic, Caldwell was ``one of the first authors to be published in mass-market paperback editions [and] is a key figure in the history of American publishing.'' Miller is dean of students at Riverdale Country School in New York City. Photos. (Jan.)