The film Genius explores the compelling dynamics of mentorship. It also delves into creativity. It captures how two influential figures shaped the literary landscape.
Genius is a stirring drama about the complex friendship and transformative professional relationship between the world-renowned book editor Maxwell Perkins (who discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway) and the larger-than-life literary giant Thomas Wolfe.
- Thomas Wolfe found fame and critical success at a young age. He was a blazing talent with a larger-than-life personality.
- Maxwell Perkins was a highly respected literary editor. He was one of the most well-known editors. He discovered iconic novelists like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.
Wolfe and Perkins develop a tender, complex friendship. Transformative and irrepressible, this friendship will change the lives of these brilliant, but very different men forever.
Wolfe was all about appetite and satiating himself. He traveled extensively, had adventures and engaged in barroom fights. Perkins wasn’t a prig – he didn’t sit back resisting it disapprovingly – he just didn’t do it. But he lived in books like ‘War & Peace’, and he dreamt about it.
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William Maxwell Evarts Perkins was born in 1884 in New York City, and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey.
He majored in economics at Harvard University. He worked as a reporter for The New York Times. In 1910, he joined Charles Scribner’s Sons – a venerable NYC publishing house that survives to this day.
He was a family man, married to Louise Saunders, a playwright, and with five daughters.
Scribner’s was already a renowned organization when Perkins joined. It was publishing great works from established authors including Henry James and Edith Wharton. But Perkins had a passion for discovering young authors, whose work was ahead of its time.
In 1919, Perkins persuaded his bosses to take a chance on a young writer named F. Scott Fitzgerald. In 1920, Scribner’s published “This Side of Paradise.” This event heralded the arrival of a new literary generation. Perkins worked tirelessly to help define this generation.
In his time at Scribner’s he shepherded the works of Ernest Hemingway, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, J.P. Marquand, Erskine Caldwell, James Jones, Marguerite Young and many more.
His defining relationship was with Thomas Wolfe, who was in his mid-20s. His 1,100-page first work landed on Max Perkins’ desk.
Thomas Clayton Wolfe was born in Asheville, North Carolina in 1900.
He was a prolific writer. His manuscripts would arrive at Scribner’s by the crate. These manuscripts had sentences that lasted entire pages. They possessed a mellifluous, deeply autobiographical style. This piqued Perkins’ interest. He knew he’d have his work cut out trying to rein it in to the publishable standards of the day.
The two men formed a deep bond. They collaborated on the first two of Wolfe’s four novels, Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River.
- Look Homeward, Angel was first published in 1929. The book is a coming-of-age story. It follows the life of Eugene Gant, a young man growing up in the fictional town of Altamont. This town is based on Wolfe’s hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. The novel explores themes of family, identity, and the search for meaning. It is known for its rich, lyrical prose and vivid characterizations. The title refers to a line from John Milton’s poem “Lycidas” and symbolizes the protagonist’s longing for a better future. Wolfe’s novel is semi-autobiographical, drawing heavily on his own experiences and relationships.
- Of Time and the River was published in 1935. It’s a sequel to Look Homeward, Angel. The book continues the story of Eugene Gant. It follows him into young adulthood as he leaves his hometown. He embarks on a journey to discover himself and pursue his ambitions. The novel spans multiple locations and captures the protagonist’s experiences and the people he encounters along the way. Wolfe’s writing in “Of Time and the River” is known for its flowing, almost poetic prose. He vividly depicts the emotions and struggles of his characters. The themes of the novel include growth, exploration, and the passage of time.
Their professional relationship lasted for less than a decade. Its impact would resound on both men’s lives until their deaths. Against Perkins’ protestations, Wolfe dedicated 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 rare public acknowledgment of the work Max Perkins had dedicated his life to. “Consider the beginnings of Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Wolfe. You will find that they were initially rejected writers,” notes A. Scott Berg. He published the definitive biography, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, in 1978.
- Max Perkins: Editor of Genius won the National Book Award. It offers a detailed and engaging portrait of Maxwell Perkins. He is one of the most influential book editors in American literary history. The biography delves into Perkins’ professional journey, highlighting his dedication to discovering and supporting young, unproven writers. It also explores his relationships with these literary giants, including the challenges and triumphs they experienced together
This began the story’s 35-year journey to the screen. “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. He worked with them, often in his own time. Scribner’s wasn’t even interested. Perkins assured each of them, ‘Even if you have to go elsewhere to get this published, I will help you. I am committed to supporting you.’”
Berg’s choice of title is no accident. By the Latin definition, “genius” refers to a guardian deity that watches over a person. “Perkins literally became that person to these writers,” he notes. “Who was the genius in this relationship? Was he an editor that possessed genius, or did he edit the work of geniuses?”
Perkins wasn’t simply a copy editor, like his contemporaries. He changed the role of editing beyond simple correction of spelling and grammar. “He was the first to make a really major creative contribution,” says Berg. “And beyond that, he realized an author needs an editor during critical times. It’s not when the work is finished. It’s when that author is struggling with the manuscript.”
He continues: “Perkins was a friend, a marriage counselor, a psychiatrist and a money-lender. He fulfilled these roles not just for Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Wolfe, but for a hundred other writers.”
John Logan, who wrote the screenplay for Genius, notes the intensity of Perkins’ relationship with Wolfe. It was based on how different they were as people. “You couldn’t imagine two more polar opposites than Max Perkins and Thomas Wolfe. Max was a buttoned-up, conservative Yankie book editor who literally and figuratively wore a tie. Thomas Wolfe was a mad, North Carolinian animal. You only need to read five pages of ‘Look Homeward, Angel’ or ‘Of Time and the River.’ His words show so much passion. His storytelling style is captivating. The novels reach out and slap you with so much emotion and passion.”
What they shared, though, was an appreciation for art and for great literature. “They built a vocabulary as editor and writer. As a pair of human beings, it allowed them to grow very close.”
Agrees Berg: “Max Perkins needed Thomas Wolfe as much as Thomas Wolfe needed Max Perkins. What is an editor like Max Perkins without a Thomas Wolfe? This word-machine that just churns out work, uncontrolled and uncontrollably. It was a great symbiosis between these two men.
“Something of the spirit of his writers was alive in Perkins too,” notes Colin Firth. He is responsible for bringing Perkins to the screen in Genius. “Berg points out in his book that he came from two very different families. It was as though the English Civil War were raging inside him. The Perkins side was artistic, flamboyant, and bohemian. The Evarts side was conformist, puritanical, and reserved. That’s the side, I think, that would probably have met the eye when one first met Max Perkins. This other aspect engaged with the likes of Thomas Wolfe.”
He continues: “Wolfe was all about appetite and satiating himself. He traveled extensively, had adventures and engaged in barroom fights. Perkins wasn’t a prig – he didn’t sit back resisting it disapprovingly – he just didn’t do it. But he lived in books like ‘War & Peace’, and he dreamt about it. I think he did it through Wolfe and his other authors.”
Perkins shied away from the attention that greeted the publication of these great works. He correctly feared the backlash from critics that would result from Wolfe’s dedication in “Of Time and the River”. “Max Perkins always said his only job was to put brilliant books in the hands of readers,” notes Logan. “He wanted to be invisible. He was deeply involved in the creation of these books. His goal was for Thomas Wolfe’s voice to soar. He did not want his own voice to dominate. Like all editors, he faced insecurity. He wondered, ‘Am I making this better, or am I just making it different?’”
“That self-abnegation is familiar to many English people. Certainly, those of my background will recognize it,” Firth continues. “The idea is that you’re only doing something worthwhile if you’re not enjoying it. He chose economics at college precisely because he hated it, and I think he regretted that somewhat. He didn’t think there was any achievement in doing what he loved. Instead, he helped other people do what they loved.”
The passage of time has done little to dull the impact of Wolfe’s work. However, his canon is certainly not as highly regarded today as that of his contemporaries, Fitzgerald and Hemingway.
Jude Law plays Wolfe on screen. He notes that you’d have to be a real literary buff to know of Max Perkins. He thinks it’s the same now for Thomas Wolfe. “He’s not in the modern consciousness like Fitzgerald and Hemingway. That absence allows for a very exciting story. It’s not only a very interesting dynamic between them to explore. Our story also sits on the shoulders of two great men who are little known.”
The intensity of the relationship between Wolfe and Perkins took its toll on the other relationships in their lives. “For Tom, in the end, the only thing that mattered was the work,” says Law. “It was a huge act of selfishness, and in the end selfishness bred indulgence. He became an indulgent man at the expense of others. However, he still felt he was doing it for the work. He believed that the work was important.”
Aside from Wolfe’s parents and Perkins, Law notes, the author’s other essential relationship was with Aline Bernstein. She was one of the most renowned theatrical costume designers of her day. Wolfe had a tumultuous affair with her. “Wolfe had copious lovers,” he says, “but Aline was his love, his muse, and his champion.”
“They were addicted to one another at a certain point,” says Nicole Kidman, who plays Bernstein in Genius. “She was a formidable woman. She was an incredibly strong career woman who was ahead of her time. It is fascinating because she was in this obsessive, dependent love affair with Thomas Wolfe.”
“Aline was desperate and she was passionate,” says Berg. “When Aline loved, she loved 200%. She was anxious to hold onto that, and she was threatened by Wolfe’s relationship with Perkins.”
Perkins’ family life was threatened too, by the enormous strain Wolfe’s personality and prolificacy placed on his editor. For Perkins’ wife, Louise Saunders, herself a published author, supporting her husband’s work was both her pleasure and her hardship. “People of a certain era knew of Louise Saunders. However, she is nearly forgotten today,” notes Laura Linney, who plays the role in Genius. “Max’s relationships with his authors took up a huge amount of his time. While there was an understanding from Louise and a respect, there was also, frankly, a jealousy. She was an artistic person herself who had been relegated to the suburbs. She would forego her own artistic journey to have his children and live his life.”
She summarizes: “The relationship between these men was so intense and it took up all of their time. The women in their lives both felt their absence keenly.”
