This part of the site is dedicated to the notorious author and editor Frank Harris, whose My Life and Loves scandalised Britain, Europe and America in the 1920s. Notwithstanding his reputation as a rogue and womaniser, he was an entertaining writer and individual who was always his own man.
This is the amusing introduction to Joan La Romée, a play by Frank Harris, from the English edition, dated 1926.
My thanks are extended to Edgar M. Ross for his permission to reproduce this copyrighted text.
Scanned for your delight as part of the Frank Harris Preface Project.
There are a small number of Harris' books currently in print, you can buy them on-line through a site such as Amazon.com or simply by ordering them through your local bookseller, which may save on shipping costs. This page concentrates on second-hand (used) books, as that is a more interesting and thornier topic.
This is the text of the Preface to Pantopia by Frank Harris, in which he bizarrely admits that his book has been made somewhat less interesting by his removal of all the dirty bits. (My thanks are extended to Edgar M. Ross for his permission to reproduce this copyright material. Scanned for your delight as part of the Frank Harris Preface Project).
Harris chose Joan as the subject of a play because he was enchanted by her story and wanted to communicate it. Unfortunately the story is not well suited to the Harrisian style and Harris was no dramatist, though he persisted in the illusion that he was. His enthusiasm for this ill-advised piece does however indicate that despite his rakish reputation he was still at heart something of a sentimental idealist.
All about the writer and editor Frank Harris.
