Post by katieel116 on May 31, 2013 23:04:51 GMT -5
Philip Schultz grew up in New York and was exposed to social class struggles at an early age that greater impacted his writings and influenced him to begin his social commentaries. His father was one of the real catalysts who, unintentionally, encouraged Schultz to write and heavily influenced the topic and style. His father, an immigrant worker, notoriously experienced several businesses failures and passed away when Schultz was 18, leaving Philip and his mother bankrupt. This left Philip fascinated by social status, wealth, failures and successes, which were all visible themes in Philip’s earliest works as a writer which focused mainly on New York in the 1970’s.
Schultz was engulfed by this idea of the American dream due to his own personal background and thus his earliest work took on an autobiographical feel. He was the author of five published books of poems but none of them ever went mainstream. He attempted to write a novel but it failed and in the 1980’s where he then took the advice of a friend, John Cheever, who said that distance is everything and took two decades off from writing.
During his time off, Schultz devoted his time to aiding others with their writing abilities while still receiving small recognition for his works. He spent four years as the founder and director of New York University’s graduate creative writing program and then went on to achieve an even more publically admired accomplishment which was the creation of the Writer’s Studio. This establishment was a school that utilized student’s emotions to better their writing and fostered an environment to allow creativity to flourish.
When Schultz returned his focus to writing he was anything but a failure. These later works were characterized by their persuasive honesty as well as humility and showed a clear growth in style. Schultz had an unremarkable ability to evoke emotion and uses language that suggests he is able to share our pain. He expresses a tremendous capacity for understanding the human condition through his stylistic trademark of writing with great emotional directness.
His career acclaimed its greatest success with the publication of the book of poems entitled, “Failure.” The book won him the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and gave birth to his fast paced career and marked the beginning of years of a level of activity that Schultz had never experienced. In the book, Schultz examined the struggle between success and failure, and was inclined to do so because of his father and of all of his business failures that greatly impacted him and his mom growing up. He refers to his father’s character, his personal fears, and simple relatable situations to move his audiences. Schultz described his father in a way that others could relate with by describing how, “His watches pinched, he tripped on his pant cuffs and snored loudly in movies, where his weariness overcame him finally.” Schultz beautifully illustrates the American way of life by describing items and television programs that are relatable and force people to outwardly look in and examine the culture of the United States by alluding to issues of class, wealth, and societal pressures.
Surprisingly, much later in his life, at the prime age of 63, Schultz was diagnosed with dyslexia only. Schultz is a true inspiration and embodiment of the American dream that fosters the idea that with hard work one can achieve their goals. He was severely taunted in school growing up however he pursued his dream. He had his father to thank for showing him that failure was not the worst thing a person could so and that failing was not necessarily something that determined someone’s life or character and that there were worse things to be than a failure. “You can't remember a nobody's name, that's why they're called nobodies. Failures are unforgettable.”
Schultz was engulfed by this idea of the American dream due to his own personal background and thus his earliest work took on an autobiographical feel. He was the author of five published books of poems but none of them ever went mainstream. He attempted to write a novel but it failed and in the 1980’s where he then took the advice of a friend, John Cheever, who said that distance is everything and took two decades off from writing.
During his time off, Schultz devoted his time to aiding others with their writing abilities while still receiving small recognition for his works. He spent four years as the founder and director of New York University’s graduate creative writing program and then went on to achieve an even more publically admired accomplishment which was the creation of the Writer’s Studio. This establishment was a school that utilized student’s emotions to better their writing and fostered an environment to allow creativity to flourish.
When Schultz returned his focus to writing he was anything but a failure. These later works were characterized by their persuasive honesty as well as humility and showed a clear growth in style. Schultz had an unremarkable ability to evoke emotion and uses language that suggests he is able to share our pain. He expresses a tremendous capacity for understanding the human condition through his stylistic trademark of writing with great emotional directness.
His career acclaimed its greatest success with the publication of the book of poems entitled, “Failure.” The book won him the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and gave birth to his fast paced career and marked the beginning of years of a level of activity that Schultz had never experienced. In the book, Schultz examined the struggle between success and failure, and was inclined to do so because of his father and of all of his business failures that greatly impacted him and his mom growing up. He refers to his father’s character, his personal fears, and simple relatable situations to move his audiences. Schultz described his father in a way that others could relate with by describing how, “His watches pinched, he tripped on his pant cuffs and snored loudly in movies, where his weariness overcame him finally.” Schultz beautifully illustrates the American way of life by describing items and television programs that are relatable and force people to outwardly look in and examine the culture of the United States by alluding to issues of class, wealth, and societal pressures.
Surprisingly, much later in his life, at the prime age of 63, Schultz was diagnosed with dyslexia only. Schultz is a true inspiration and embodiment of the American dream that fosters the idea that with hard work one can achieve their goals. He was severely taunted in school growing up however he pursued his dream. He had his father to thank for showing him that failure was not the worst thing a person could so and that failing was not necessarily something that determined someone’s life or character and that there were worse things to be than a failure. “You can't remember a nobody's name, that's why they're called nobodies. Failures are unforgettable.”