The 'Genius' Of Editor Max Perkins

While most people know names like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe, they might not know Max Perkins. The film "Genius" (opening June 17 in select San Diego theaters) sets out to remedy that.

Maxwell Perkins was a book editor at Charles Scribner's Sons in the first half of the last century. In 1919, he championed a young writer named F. Scott Fitzgerald and convinced Scribner's to publish "This Side of Paradise." During his time at Scribner's he also edited the works of Ernest Hemingway (including his first novel), Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, James Jones and Thomas Wolfe (who might have presented Perkins with his most monumental editing task).

Perkins' life was chronicled in the book "Max Perkins: Editor of Genius" by A. Scott Berg in 1978. Screenwriter John Logan pursued the rights to adapting the book for some two decades.

In the press notes for the film, Logan reveals that once he got the rights he faced a new challenge: "For an American writer, it was a formidable challenge to look at a story that had Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in it. All three of them are titans of 20th Century American literature. It took a gulp to sit down and say, 'Now I'm going to write a scene for F. Scott Fitzgerald.' But part of what attracted me was the sad truth of our lives, that Thomas Wolfe is almost completely forgotten. If 'Genius' does anything, I hope it inspires people to buy 'Look Homeward, Angel' or 'Of Time and the River' and start reading."

The film "Genius" looks specifically to the professional and personal relationship between Perkins and Wolfe.

When Perkins received Wolfe's 1,000-page-plus manuscript, he saw genius in it, but also that it needed a lot of work. There were sentences that ran on for pages and his raw manuscripts were three times longer than most novels being published at that time. Needless to say, Wolfe's book had been turned down by almost everyone.

But Perkins saw what it could be and was willing to work with the young author to shape it into a book that could be published.

Wolfe, who was a struggling writer, was grateful for the opportunity Perkins provided but fame from his first book led to a growing ego and a more combative relationship with Perkins.

The two men were radically different.

Perkins was reserved, married with kids and living a quiet lifestyle. Wolfe was impulsive, poetic and wildly emotional. It's surprising and commendable that someone with the outward conservatism of Perkins could recognize Wolfe's unique talent.

Wolfe would later dedicate "Of Time and the River" to his editor.

"This book is dedicated to Maxwell Evarts Perkins," it read. "A brave and honest man, who stuck to the writer of this book through times of bitter hopelessness. The author hopes this book will prove worthy of him."

It was a fitting acknowledgement of a man whose skill and talent was largely unseen and unappreciated by the public.

In the press notes author Berg states: "If you go back to the beginnings of Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Wolfe, they were all three of them rejected writers. Fitzgerald, in fact, had been turned down by Scribner's three times before Max Perkins laid his job on the line. Hemingway was about to be dropped by his publisher, and Thomas Wolfe had been rejected all over town. This was a man who saw genius in all three of these writers, and worked with them, often in his own time. Scribner's wasn't even interested; Perkins had to say to each of them, 'Even if you have to go elsewhere to get this published, I'm going to help you.'"

The film changes Berg's title from "Editor of Genius" to simply "Genius" and on a certain level it leaves it up to the viewer to decide if the title refers to just Wolfe or to Perkins as well. Perkins had a definite gift for both being able to identify talent and then to help hone that talent to perfection.

Director Michael Grandage has the challenge of trying to make a film about the written word come to life as a moving picture.

I think you have to have a love of literature going into the film to appreciate the quiet and reserve of both Perkins and the film. But through Colin Firth's performance as Perkins we sense his passion for literature and feel a sense of romance for the art of crafting a novel.

On an ironic note, all these iconic American personalities are all played by Brits (Firth, Jude Law as Wolfe, Dominic West as Hemingway) and Aussies (Guy Pearce as Fitzgerald, Nicole Kidman as Wolfe's mistress).

"Genius" (rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and suggestive content) brings attention to two people who deserve to be remembered for their very different kinds of genius.