{"product_id":"the-inman-diary-a-public-and-private-confession","title":"The Inman Diary: A Public and Private Confession","description":"\u003cp\u003eBetween 1919 and his death by suicide in 1963  Arthur Crew Inman wrote what is surely one of the fullest diaries ever kept by any American. Convinced that his bid for immortality required complete candor  he held nothing back. This abridgment of the original 155 volumes is at once autobiography  social chronicle  and an apologia addressed to unborn readers.  Into this fascinating record Inman poured memories of a privileged Atlanta childhood  disastrous prep-school years  a nervous collapse in college followed by a bizarre life of self-diagnosed invalidism. Confined to a darkened room in his Boston apartment  he lived vicariously: through newspaper advertisements he hired talkers to tell him the stories of their lives  and he wove their strange histories into the diary. Young women in particular fascinated him. He studied their moods  bought them clothes  fondled them  and counseled them on their love affairs. His marriage in 1923 to Evelyn Yates  the heroine of the diary  survived a series of melodramatic episodes. While reflecting on national politics  waifs and revolutions  Inman speaks directly about his fears  compulsions  fantasies  and nightmares  coaxing the reader into intimacy with him. Despite his shocking self-disclosures he emerges as an oddly impressive figure.  This compelling work is many things: a case history of a deeply troubled man; the story of a transplanted and self-conscious southerner; a historical overview of Boston illuminated with striking cityscapes; an odd sort of American social history. But chiefly it is  as Inman himself came to see  a gigantic nonfiction novel  a new literary form. As it moves inexorably toward a powerful denouement  The Inman Diary is an addictive narrative.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44985895747637,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674454456","price":101.84,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674454453.jpg?v=1770876191","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-inman-diary-a-public-and-private-confession","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}