CHAPMAN, C. Stuart 1970(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1970. Education: Rhodes College, B.A., 1991; University of Georgia, M.A., 1994; Boston College, Ph.D. (English), 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o University Press of Mississippi, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211-6492.

CAREER:

Journalist, advisor, and author. Clarksdale Press-Register, Clarksdale, MS, reporter; press secretary for Congresswoman Barbara Lee; Massachusetts State House, aide.

WRITINGS:

Shelby Foote: A Writer's Life, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 2003.

Contributor to periodicals, including Clarksdale Press-Register, Jamaica Plain Gazette, Memphis Business Journal, Memphis Commercial Appeal, and Modern Fiction Studies.

SIDELIGHTS:

C. Stuart Chapman's book Shelby Foote: A Writer's Life is an adaptation is based on Chapman's doctoral dissertation while at Boston College. In this work Chapman reveals the details of Foote's life as a southern gentleman, writer, and historian of the U.S. Civil War. He gives an intimate account of Foote's attempts to come to terms with the changing South and his place within it.

Chapman frequently corresponded with Foote while writing his book. However, some critics maintained that Chapman relies too heavily on his own deductions regarding Foote's character. "Chapman is a diligent and perceptive biographer, but he nods more than once, and his book is flawed by historical misperceptions, errors and misdatings," explained Edwin M. Yoder in the Washington Post. The critic went on to note: "It would also have been a better book if Chapman stepped down from the pulpit from which he feels a nagging duty to lecture 'white southerners' on their sins and defects." Other reviewers bemoaned the lack of personal information in the book. However, in the New York Times, reviewer Sherie Posesorski described Shelby Foote as "brisk" and "colorful" and praised the book for providing readers with a "a frank, full-bodied portrait of the man and an agile examination of Foote's development as a writer."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Charleston Post and Courier, May 18, 2003, Rosemary Michaud, "Foote Knows the Facts, Can Tell a Good Story."

Library Journal, February 15, 2003, Henry L. Carrigan, review of Shelby Foote: A Writer's Life, p. 138.

National Review, June 30, 2003, Michael Potemra, "Laughter and Remembering."

New York Times, April 27, 2003, Sherie Posesorski, review of Shelby Foote.

Washington Post, April 27, 2003, Edwin M. Yoder, Jr., review of Shelby Foote.

ONLINE

Charlotte Observer online,http://www.bayarea.com/ (June 16, 2003), Henry L. Carrigan, Jr., "Foote Saw Darkness before Limelight."

Go Memphis.com,http://www.gomemphis.com/ (March 16, 2003), Melissa McIntosh Brown, "Conjecture Mars Biography of Shelby Foote."

Memphis Magazine online,http://www.memphismagazine.com/ (June 16, 2003), Leonard Gill, "Foote First: The Last of the Southern Gentlemen? A Biography of Shelby Foote."

University Press of Mississippi Web site,http://www.upress.state.ms.us/ (November 15, 2003).*