Here's William Saroyan: Reading His Own Stuff and Talking

Portrait of the Writer as a Young Man of Sixty-Four 

William Saroyan has published many short stories, plays, and novels since 1934, when "The Daring Young Man on the FLying Trapeze" appeared in Story magazine, and then became the title story for his first book, a gathering together of 26 stories, or Saroyans, as one or two critics called them. 

He began to write in earnest before he was ten, while he sold papers, and then while he delivered telegrams and worked in peach and apricots orchards and in grape vineyards in Fresno, where he was born in 1908.

Contents

Side 1

(1) Introduction and overview. (2) His contribution to American writing. (3) His career decision. (4) Success, at last. Excerpt first section "Daring Young Man..." (5) Publication of first book.

Side 2

(1) Preface to first book. (2) Foreign travels. (3) Saroyan and the Armenian Spirit. (4) Reflections on Communism.

Side 3

(1) Visit with Jan Sibelius. (2) Opening section, "Daily News" (3) Publishers and publishing. (4) Opening section, "The Man with His Heart in the Highlands." 

Side 4

(1) Creating My Name is Aram. (2) Opening section, "Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" (3) "One of our Future Poets" (4) "Old Country Advice to American Traveler"

Side 5

(1) About The Human Comedy. (2) Dedication of this book. (3) Chapter 1, "Ulysses" (4) Chapter 9, "The Veteran"

Side 6

(1) About The Time of Your Life. (2) Role of drama and playwriting, excerpt from Preface to The Cave Dwellers. (3) Saroyan and Broadway. (4) Places Where I've Done Time, Chapter 3. (5) Philosophy of writing. (6) Advice to young writers; Credo