The Man Who Was B. Traven
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding: Good — no loose pages or broken binding.
One of literature's greatest mysteries — who was B. Traven? — finally meets its match in Will Wyatt's meticulous and gripping investigation. The author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre lived in deliberate obscurity for decades, refusing interviews, disguising his identity, and leaving behind a trail of contradictions that baffled scholars and journalists alike. Wyatt, a seasoned BBC documentary maker, chronicles his painstaking search across continents, archives, and false identities to uncover the man behind the pen name — a journey as dramatic and twisting as any of Traven's own novels. The result is a work of remarkable biographical detective work that illuminates not only the life of a singular literary figure but also the broader currents of early 20th-century radicalism, anonymity as artistic statement, and the power of reinvention. Wyatt's prose is precise yet compelling, drawing the reader into a puzzle that resisted solution for generations. For anyone captivated by the intersection of literature, identity, and obsession, this is the definitive account — and its conclusions are more startling than fiction.
Author: Will Wyatt
Format: Hardback
Published: 1980, Jonathan Cape
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding: Good — no loose pages or broken binding.
One of literature's greatest mysteries — who was B. Traven? — finally meets its match in Will Wyatt's meticulous and gripping investigation. The author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre lived in deliberate obscurity for decades, refusing interviews, disguising his identity, and leaving behind a trail of contradictions that baffled scholars and journalists alike. Wyatt, a seasoned BBC documentary maker, chronicles his painstaking search across continents, archives, and false identities to uncover the man behind the pen name — a journey as dramatic and twisting as any of Traven's own novels. The result is a work of remarkable biographical detective work that illuminates not only the life of a singular literary figure but also the broader currents of early 20th-century radicalism, anonymity as artistic statement, and the power of reinvention. Wyatt's prose is precise yet compelling, drawing the reader into a puzzle that resisted solution for generations. For anyone captivated by the intersection of literature, identity, and obsession, this is the definitive account — and its conclusions are more startling than fiction.