I Am Providence by S. T. Joshi: An H. P. Lovecraft Biography

I Am Providence
S. T. Joshi
A biography of H. P. Lovecraft
Mythos Monday

[@tonygriego6382]

Next to Edgar Allan Poe, and Robert E Howard, Lovecraft is my favorite writer. As for his personality flaws, I'm a firm believer in never judging the past with the standards and morals of the present. Those tended to be the beliefs of many people in his day, and while I know he would never mix with me in a social setting, that still doesn't stop me from enjoying his stories.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I agree. The author of this book, S. T. Joshi, who was born in India, feels the same. Thanks for watching!

[@growlkinz1233]

lovecraft was right about everything, don't believe this idiot in this vid.

[@shigermuleye5203]

This makes me glad there isn't more known about my favorite creators.

[@ABFrank.]

This sounds fantastic. So much Lovecraft biography it's longer than all of Lovecraft's fiction 😄

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Ha! It is!

[@AnneEWilliamson]

Wow, that's a very long biography and I would love to read it! I love Lovecraft, but to be honest I don't know much about his life. I've never heard of S.T. Joshi and even if it's two volumes, I want to pick up this book!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

It’s great, and Joshi is THE authority on Lovecraft.

[@horrorreader1869]

You read my mind I was hoping you would do a review on Lovecraft's biography. I was planning to get it from the library when I catch up on all the books I have checked out which may be weeks from now. I still have a bio on Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson to read. Thanks for the review. Deron

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Glad you liked it. Happy my mind reading skills are improving.

[@jeremyfee]

Great video! This sounds like it would be a great read for Nonfiction November. :)

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yes! It might take all November though.

[@jamesfetcho6315]

Not more than Me. LoL. 😁 Can You imagine How much writing 2 friends He would have written 2 in today's times. LoL. It broke my heart when I found out their wasn't a Miskatonic University in Arkham, or even an Arkham. LoL. You already know how I feel about S.T. Joshi. I find I read so much Lovecraftian stuff that everywhere I Look is S.T. Joshi. LoL. Making some kind of statement, QUOTE, or something. LoL. Great Video Michael 👍😁👍

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yeah, anything Lovecraft has Joshi on it somewhere. It’s like how every horror novel has a Stephen King blurb.

[@jamesfetcho6315]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 exactly. LoL 👍

[@davidsigler9690]

You can find this book on Thriftbooks.....which is where I am getting a copy at some point.

[@markw.loughton6786]

Lovecraft is my god of horror fiction.

[@wyrdtransmissions]

I got to visit some Lovecraftian sites around Salem, MA with Joshi while he was filming a biography. It was fantastic.

[@revenantreads]

These sound great.

[@sgriffin9960]

He does seem like an interesting character!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

He really was.

[@attention5638]

I realize, I don't know anything about his personal life whatsoever, other than he was racist. I think that alone made me not care too much about his personal life. Though I do like his writing, I never wanted to know him as a person because of that one fact. Which, I admit, very ignorant. But, now that you mention philosophical musings, I am very interested on his thoughts on that broad subject haha

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

His philosophy is pretty interesting actually. He was an interesting person all around really, despite his appalling racism.

[@geminisundone]

​@@michaelk.vaughan8617His appaling racism came from constantly being called ugly by his mother as a child growing up. Imagine being an incredibly intelligent child who's overly sensitive and having your only protector hate your face...your very being! And all that came from her and her husband's mental illness that killed them both in time... Imagine Lovecraft dealing with all that fear and hate...at such an impressionable age...and you wonder why he grew up to view the world as ugly. Existential dread was beat into his mind and his life suffered for it but his writing fed from it. I find it remarkable that people like you think you have any sort of understanding of Lovecraft...so quick to say HE WAS A TERRIBLE RACIST!! Your cluelessness is hard to bear as is your nasal breathing and disgusting lip smacking noises throughout your poorly spoken videos. Good day sir I won't be back again.

[@DDB168]

I'm intrigued about his failed marriage (and his life in poverty too) . I'm picturing him as being a: 'where's my dinner?' type husband. Was he that bad ? 😉 Do the volumes go into detail about how he wrote his stories ie. the craft of his writing.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

By all accounts Lovecraft was actually pretty nice to people, even people he was prejudiced against. His marriage failed because he liked the idea of being married but simply wasn’t suited for it. Not in any way actually. And the book goes into detail about the composition of his stories.

[@warlockofwordschannel7901]

Yes as Michael said, his brief marriage to Sonia fell apart largely for economic reasons, Sonia having to seek work in other cities after her hat shop in New York failed and emotional lethargy on Lovecraft's part, he let the aloofness of his aunts towards Sonia influence their relationship, as well. The course of true love, eh?

[@stephensinclair3771]

Hello. Have you ever read Michael Holbecks "against the world against life"? A kind of long essay/loveletter to HPL. The saddest 😢 line ever written "and he began to sell his furniture 😢 ".

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I have read that. It was very good.

[@stephensinclair3771]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 I agree thought it was very good. Haven't read "I am providence" yet. I in my late 40s and can remember when HPLs stuff was much harder to get hold of. It had an "occult" feel to it in the literal sense of the word. What's your favourite of his stories?