Morris, Roy, Jr.

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MORRIS, Roy, Jr.

PERSONAL: Male. Education: University of Tennessee, undergraduate and graduate degrees in English.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Author. Worked variously as a journalist, editor, and educator. Former newspaper reporter for the Chattanooga Free Press and Chattanooga Times; former editor of America's Civil War magazine.

WRITINGS:

Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan, Crown Publishers (New York, NY), 1992.

Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company, Crown Publishers (New York, NY), 1995.

The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, SamuelTilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A book about author Stephen Crane.

SIDELIGHTS: Roy Morris, Jr.'s experience as a newspaper reporter and editor of a Civil War journal served him well in his transition to becoming the author of biographies. He has used his investigative skills and interest in the Civil War to produce four books dealing with the war or related topics. Morris published his first book, Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan, while he was still editor of America's Civil War magazine. W. Walter Wicker in Library Journal found his study of the Union general to be "a very succinct, well-written biography detailing Sheridan's military life." He also observed that Morris "treats both sides of Sheridan's life fairly and gives an excellent account of the Civil and Indian wars from the view of one of its leading generals." A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that this is the first contemporary biography of Sheridan, and commented that Morris's account, which relies "heavily on Sheridan's memoirs," also portrays Sheridan's life after the war in a manner that is "balanced and empathetic."

In Morris's second book, Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company, he investigates the life and disappearance in 1913 of the journalist and Civil War veteran. Bierce was also the author of many satiric pieces and short stories, and is perhaps best known for The Devil's Dictionary, in which he provided cynical definitions such as the one from which Morris takes his subtitle "alone, adj., in bad company." In Wild West Dale L. Walker commented that Morris "does a good service in resurrecting Bierce's true, and considerable, literary worth." Phoebe-Lou Adams for the Atlantic Monthly found the book to be "a fine biography" and commented that Morris "admirably describes the battles Bierce fought" and "does well in reconstructing Bierce's subsequent life as an abrasive newspaperman." She concluded that Morris's theory of Bierce's death, while ultimately "as unprovable as any . . . suits both Bierce's independent character and his penchant for creating annoyance." Florence King for the Wall Street Journal claimed that "it is impossible to write a bad book about Ambrose Bierce, but Roy Morris comes close." She cited Morris's lack of understanding of his subject as the basis of her criticism, stating that Morris "does not understand how misanthropes think" and that in being "unwilling to let Bierce be Bierce, he trots out psychobabble about 'self-loathing' and 'unresolved feelings of guilt.'" She did, however, commend Morris's "good detective work on Bierce's likely end." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called it "an objective study," and also lauded Morris's thorough research. Robert L. Kelly in Library Journal found the work to be "an intriguing and deeply felt biography" and remarked that Morris "intertwines deftly Bierce's writings with an account of his life and times."

In The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War, Morris documents the author's experience during that time. Whitman was despondent over the war, but after his brother was injured in 1862, Whitman went to Fredricksburg to visit him and found purpose in visiting many of the wounded soldiers there. Lyde Cullen Sizer in the Journal of American History noted that "the book begins as the war does and assumes a fair amount of previous knowledge about Whitman's life to that date." Sizer praised Morris's in-depth coverage of this period of Whitman's life, and observed that Morris "identifies the battles and their effects, the diseases rampant, the shape and cleanliness of the wards . . . and some of the relevant political struggles ongoing around Whitman." Sizer found the book to be "more for the educated lay reader than for an explicitly academic audience." Dori DeSpain in School Library Journal observed that "Morris's skills as a researcher are evident and his writing is first rate." She noted that the book is useful "as a moving introduction to Whitman" and also for "its information on the home front and the medical profession during the Civil War, or to gain insight into the sociological and psychological aftermath of war on individuals or nations."

Published following the controversial 2000 U.S. presidential election, Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876 tells a tale of another disputed presidential election in U.S. history. On election night, it was determined that Tilden had won the popular vote. However, the results were contested and the victory was subsequently given to Hayes. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly noted that Morris's work "details the stunning sequence of political dirty tricks . . . as well as the personalities that conspired to steal the election from Tilden." A reviewer for Kirkus Reviews noted that Morris reconstructs the presidential election in "amazing detail" and that he "meticulously fleshes out the character and influences of the antagonists." The reviewer concluded that Morris has "brilliantly exhumed and analyzed" this chapter in U.S. history "with due attention to its obvious contemporary relevance." In the New Leader Henry F. Graff considered the work to be a "fascinating narrative." He commented that "though the story is not new, no one has told it better than Roy Morris, Jr . . . his obvious zest for politics and his skillful use of secondary sources—notably the books of Ari Hogenboom and the late C. Vann Woodward—are combined here in a first-rate account of this famous disputed election." Michael A. Genovese for Library Journal credited Morris with "an eye for detail and a lively writing style that make this highly detailed, first-rate work of history read more like a whodunnit than a historical examination."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Atlantic Monthly, March, 1996, Phoebe-Lou Adams, review of Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company, p. 126.

Journal of American History, December, 2001, Lyde Cullen Sizer, review of The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War p. 1084.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, review of Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876, p. 1826

Library Journal, March 1, 1992, W. Walter Wicker, review of Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan, p. 102; January, 1996, Robert L. Kelly, review of Ambrose Bierce, p. 101; May 15, 2000, David Kirby, review of The Better Angel, p. 95; December, 2002, Michael A. Genovese, review of Fraud of the Century, p. 150.

New Leader, January-February, 2003, Henry F. Graff, "The Other Selected President," review of Fraud of the Century, pp.21-22.

Publishers Weekly, March 30, 1992, review of Sheridan, p. 95; November 20, 1995, review of Ambrose Bierce, p. 61; January 20, 2003, review of Fraud of the Century, p. 71.

School Library Journal, October, 2000, Dori DeSpain, review of The Better Angel, p. 196.

Wall Street Journal, January 31, 1996, Florence King, review of Ambrose Bierce, p. A13.

Wild West, December, 1996, Dale L. Walker, review of Ambrose Bierce, pp. 74-75.