A New Perspective on the Literary Styles of Stephenie Meyer

There’s a brand new article in Arizona State University News which takes a closer look at the literary style in which Stephenie Meyer writes plus a very refreshing look from a new book ( Stephenie Meyer: In the Twilight ) which includes a critical analysis of the “Twilight” Series(the characters, theme, style of all her“Twilight” books ( twilight , newmoon , eclipse , breaking dawn , short second life of bree tanner , midnightsun ) and also her book ( “Hell on Earth”)... and a brief discussion of the “Twilight” movies. It also concludes with an examination of her life in the public sphere...."“How a Young Phoenix Housewife Became the World’s Most Celebrated Author in Her Spare Time,”"""

The story is well known by now: stay-at-home mom from Arizona writes books at night while her husband and children sleep. Her books sell wildly, and soon she is the top selling author in the world. Yes, the world.
Her books are made into movies, and she becomes wealthy. Her characters enter the lexicon of everyday language: Bella and Edward become as well known as the Scarecrow and Tin Man.

How can this happen to someone who was just “writing for fun”? Will she ever be able to repeat her success? What happens to an average woman who suddenly finds herself wealthy beyond her dreams?
And, why are Bella and Edward and their family and friends so popular?

This is story of Stephenie Meyer, of course, author of “Twilight,” “New Moon,” ”Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn,” which tell the vampire love story of teenage Bella and ages-old Edward, who appears in the books as a high school student.

And, it is, indeed, a fascinating one, with many questions to be asked and answered. And it’s a particularly relevant Arizona State University story since Meyer was a student at ASU, albeit briefly, and once readily agreed to speak to a class taught by James Blasingame, associate professor of English at ASU.

To answer all of these questions, and many more, Blasingame, who specializes in young adult literature, decided to write a book about Meyer and the “Twilight” phenomena.

For various reasons it turned out to be a “rush job,” so he recruited two of his former doctoral students, Kathleen Deakin and Laura A. Walsh, to help him write the book.
Blasingame had put in a proposal for the book, and Scarecrow Press had accepted it. But before he could write the book he suffered a mild heart attack, and then had a burst appendix while he was hunting on the Kaibab Plateau, on the Grand Canyon North Rim.

“I received a note from the publisher saying, ‘We have to have this book – the last movie is about to come out. Can you get some help?’”
Blasingame turned to Deakin and Walsh and they divided the work. “Kathy and Laura split up the books and movies and I did everything else,” Blasingame said. “We finished it in three months.”

The book, “Stephenie Meyer: In the Twilight,” opens with a chapter on “How a Young Phoenix Housewife Became the World’s Most Celebrated Author in Her Spare Time,” and includes a critical analysis of the “Twilight” Series; a look at the characters, setting, theme, style, conflict and motif of each of the four “Twilight” books, plus two other books and a short story by Meyer: “”The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner,” Midnight Sun,” and “Hell on Earth”; and a brief discussion of the “Twilight” movies. The book concludes with an examination of Meyer’s life in the public sphere.

“Stephenie Meyer” also covers criticism of the books, such as that offered by fantasy writer Stephen King – whose own books had been roundly mocked by literary critic Harold Bloom..............

Read the full article at Arizona State University here

Via Twifans, TA