Fitzjames obrien biography

His first important literary connection was with Harper's Magazine , and beginning in February , with The Two Skulls, he contributed more than sixty articles in prose and verse to that periodical. It was one of the favourite stories of H. His short story "From Hand to Mouth" has been referred to as "the single most striking example of surrealistic fiction to pre-date Alice in Wonderland" Sam Moskowitz, A Mystery" is one of the earliest known examples of invisibility in fiction.

Additionally, Piou-Lu is secretly Tien-te, a rebel leader intent on overthrowing the corrupt political regime. He invites Wei-chang-tze to join his cause. However, a faction within the community discovers Piou-Lu's true identity and attempts to capture him, leading to chaos. During the upheaval, Piou-Lu and Wu manage to escape. Once Wu learns of his true identity as Tien-te, they work together to restore him to his rightful throne, successfully reclaiming his position and establishing a just rule.

With the help of his friend Doctor Harry, Edward recovers from his addiction and forms a close bond with Harry's family, particularly with Harry's sisters, Ellen and Ida. Edward falls in love with Ida. One day, a package arrives from Harry, who is traveling abroad. The package contains various artifacts from the Middle East, including hasheesh.

Despite initial hesitation, Edward is persuaded by Ellen to sample the drug. The remainder of the story delves into Edward's psychedelic and nightmarish trip, during which he imagines himself as a god. In his delusional state, he believes he has killed Ida by stabbing her. He flees, convinced he is now an outcast for his crime. When the effects of the drug wear off, Edward returns to normal life, realizing the horrors of his hallucination.

In a symbolic act of renunciation, Ida throws the remaining hasheesh into the fire, symbolizing the end of Edward's ordeal and his renewed commitment to sobriety and reality. Charley is engaged to Dick's sister, Bertha. While on their hike, they become lost in the woods and, in their desperation, stumble upon a remote cabin inhabited by a mysterious figure named Joel.

Neither Charley nor Dick trust Joel but reluctantly accept his offer of hospitality for the night, remaining cautious and taking turns keeping watch. During the night, Charley, in a state of heightened anxiety and disorientation, mistakenly believes Joel is about to harm Dick. Acting on this belief, Charley shoots Joel, only to realize too late that he has accidentally killed Dick in his confused state.

Charley is later put on trial but is acquitted on the grounds of "sleep-drunkenness," a condition that impaired his judgment and led to the tragic mistake. Tito commissions Beppo to make him a new pair of shoes for his upcoming wedding. However, Beppo feels slighted, believing Tito thinks he is superior, and attempts to extort more money from him.

Tito refuses to pay extra, prompting Beppo to claim he can get a higher price for the shoes elsewhere. Both men head to Naples, Tito for his wedding and Beppo to sell the shoes at the fair. Along the way, Beppo encounters numerous seemingly insane individuals who all insist that his shoes are a pair of pheasants. This constant reinforcement drives Beppo to believe the shoes are indeed pheasants.

When he arrives in Naples and tries to sell the "pheasants," people tell him they are shoes, leading to his anger and subsequent arrest. It is revealed that Tito, with the help of a group called the "Mezzo-Matti," orchestrated the entire ruse as a form of justice to punish Beppo for his greedy behavior. The community's collective trick on Beppo serves to question his perception of reality and highlight the consequences of his actions.

Gerald befriends a stranger and offers him a place to stay when no rooms are available. In gratitude, the stranger gives Gerald a crystal bell talisman, explaining that it will tinkle whenever someone lies to him. Upon arrival, the bell incessantly tinkles, confirming his fears. Accusing Annie of not loving him, Gerald becomes frantic, prompting Annie to think he is delusional.

She smashes the crystal bell in frustration. Gerald then wakes up back at the Hominy House, realizing it was all a dream as the dinner bell rings. Acknowledging the risks, Dimes reassures him that they will be accompanied by Capt. Currycomb, an officer, and reveals he has a revolver for protection. The "Man About Town" becomes obsessed with the gun, fantasizing about taking it from Dimes and shooting him.

He vividly imagines the aftermath of the murder and the feeling of killing someone. Snapping back to reality, he returns the gun to Dimes, shaken by his own dark thoughts. Disowned by his family out of embarrassment, he finds himself jobless and desolate. Seeking solace in a drink, he ventures downtown, only to become convinced that he is being followed.

The story vividly depicts his frantic attempts to escape through the streets of New York, believing his pursuers are out to kill him. In a desperate moment, he strikes the supposed leader with his cane, but in the ensuing chaos, he is knocked unconscious. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself covered in blood and concludes that the pursuers were spectres haunting him, leaving readers to question the nature of his experience and the extent of his madness.

Morlot, and Dr. Auvray, an expert on monomania. Morlot schemes to rob Francois of his inheritance by having him committed, exploiting Francois's fragile state after he failed to propose to his beloved Claire, who subsequently left town. Obsessed with finding Claire, Francois mistakenly asks random men for her hand in marriage. Morlot uses this to his advantage, tying up Francois and bringing him to Dr.

However, in the psychologist's office, Francois unties himself, restrains his uncle, and convinces the doctor that Morlot is the insane one. As Francois leaves, he learns that Dr. Auvray's daughter is indeed Claire, leading to their joyful reunion while M. Morlot is committed to an asylum, undone by his own plot. The comet's mission is to decide which parts of the city to destroy and which to spare.

An unnamed narrator accompanies the comet on a tour around the city, showcasing its various facets. In return for his assistance, the comet promises to save the narrator from the impending disaster. Believing the end of the world is imminent, the narrator goes on a reckless spending spree. However, when the fateful day arrives, the comet decides not to cause any destruction, leaving the narrator burdened with massive debts.

The story contains autobiographical elements, reflecting the author's own experiences and financial struggles. Hammond, who is trying to convert Elsie to his religion, also wants her to leave Mark. When Mark discovers the situation, he confronts Hammond with threats and insists that Elsie return to her father's home. The story explores themes of jealousy, religious manipulation, and the lengths one will go to protect their marriage.

Despite his wealthy family's desire for him to pursue business, Linley moves to New York under the guise of attending medical school to focus on his scientific ambitions. After his research stalls, he consults a seance and receives guidance from the spirit of Leeuwenhoek. Realizing his neighbor Simon has a diamond large enough for his needs, Linley murders him, stages it as a suicide, and steals the gem.

Using the diamond, Linley discovers a microscopic world within a drop of water, inhabited by a beautiful female figure named Animula, with whom he becomes infatuated. His obsession leads to negligence, and the water drop evaporates, killing Animula and driving Linley insane. He spends the rest of his life giving science talks, aware that his audience is more interested in witnessing his madness than his knowledge.

The story, exploring themes of obsession and the pursuit of knowledge at all costs, brought O'Brien his first significant fame as a writer. The tale follows an unnamed narrator who encounters a mysterious figure, Count Goloptious, and his eerie establishment, the Hotel de Coup d'Oeil. After being locked out of his apartment one night, the narrator is offered a room at the strange hotel.

Once inside, he quickly realizes the sinister nature of both the Count and the hotel, which features walls adorned with large eyes, ears, hands, and mouths that spy on guests. The narrator learns that he cannot leave and meets his neighbor, Rosamond, who is trapped because the Count has stolen her legs and hidden them in the basement.

The Count demands payment for staying at the hotel, not in cash, but in written columns for a newspaper. Rosamond has a pet Green Bird capable of duplicating itself with a mirror. The narrator and the bird devise a plan to retrieve Rosamond's legs from the basement. However, their attempt is thwarted when they encounter a man carrying his head under his arm, who guides them to the basement.

The Count catches them, stomps his feet, making the bird disappear, and transports the narrator to a cave by a huge blue lake burning with sulfur. The Count throws the narrator into the lake with other captured authors. The narrator then wakes up on the sidewalk outside his apartment, realizing the bizarre experience he endured. Upon arriving at their home, Doctor Luxor discovers that Brigand's father is obsessed with turning metal into gold and believes he has succeeded.

However, he is delusional, and Brigand is pretending to support his belief to preserve his sanity. The old man accuses Brigand of stealing his supposed gold. Doctor Luxor attempts to convince the chemist of his delusion. When another experiment fails, the chemist is forced to confront the reality that his lifelong dream remains unfulfilled, leading to his death from the shock and despair.

Outside, he meets a ghoulish figure who warns him that his neighbors are cannibals. Dismissing the warning, the narrator returns to his apartment, only to feel an eerie sense of unease. Upon entering, he is blinded by a bright light and finds six strange figures in an apartment that resembles his but with unsettling differences. The guests welcome him and insist he join them, leading to a debate over whether it is indeed his apartment.

They propose a game of chance—a roll of dice—for the ownership of the apartment, which the narrator loses. Of O'Brien's works, Winter notes that the story "The Scarlet Petticoat" was started in the paper "Leslie's Stars and Stripes" in , and ran for a few months, but was never completed. Several of O'Brien's works have been lost. Winter mentions that in , he had a volume of O'Brien's works published which contained forty-three poems and thirteen stories.

For a companion volume, Winter was able to collect "from various sources" thirty pieces of prose, fifteen pieces of verse, several plays, and "many interesting fragments," enough, Winter claims, "to make a book of five hundred pages" Winter also reprints a letter from O'Brien to Aldrich p. Cranch, and Fitz Hugh Ludlow. Winter notes that at the time of his writing "not one remains" of this group Winter also notes that for a period, O'Brien was especially close to Taylor and Stoddard, but this did not continue.

Winter also notes that when he published O'Brien's collected works in --Poems and Stories, "the most censorious review of them that appeared was, I remember, written by Stoddard, in "The New York Tribune" Rosenberg, Seymour, and Eytinge. Winter was not a member of this group; all of its members are dead at the time of Winter's writing.

Fitzjames obrien biography

Winter states, "That society, unlike the Pfaff's coterie, was, after a fortuitous fashion, organized, and it had a name,--the remarkable name of the Ornithorhyncus Club. O'Brien wrote one of the group's songs, which "was sung to an air from the ever popular 'Fra Diavolo'"; this song was "an especial favorite" of the group Of the poets associated with the Bohemian period, Winter states that O'Brien's name is one among a list of "names that shine, with more or less lustre, in the scroll of American poets, and recurrence to their period affords opportunity for correction of errors concerning it, which have been conspicuously made" Winter reprints a letter written to him from Aldrich that discusses a poem that is credited to O'Brien.

It appears that the poem is a recent "discovery. Here and there I catch the tone of his voice. That wild fancy, in the second stanza, about the floating yellow hair of the drowning sun, seems like O'Brien at his very best. The poem is wholly new to me Winter claims that "O'Brien had a presentiment of his early and violent death. Waud, "who was in his company 'at the front'" for support: "After O'Brien became Aid on Lander's staff a feeling took possession of him that he would not long survive the commission: under its influence he became, at times, strangely softened.

His bouyant epicureanism partly deserted him. He showed greater consideration for others and was less convivial than was his wont. One night I rode with him to the camp of the First Massachusetts Battery, where the evening passed pleasantly, with cigars and punch. Some one sang the song, from 'Don Casesar de Bazan,' 'Then let me like a soldier die.

As we rode he kept repeating the words of the song; said he appreciated it the more, as he had a presentiment that he should be shot, before long. He would not be rallied out of it, but remarked that he was content; and, when we parted, said good-bye, as cheerfully as need be. I heard, afterward, that medical incompetance had more to do with his death than the wound.

How true it was I don't know. The great strength of O'Brien's sf is its inventiveness, which also became its greatest weakness whenever he allowed ingenuity to dominate the fiction. The Diamond Lens remains a masterpiece because he subordinated his brilliant invention to a profound exploration of the diseased psychology of one of the main figures of his age, the would-be lone genius see Mad Scientist of scientific creation.