Kyle Onstott

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Kyle Howard Onstott
BornKyle Elihu Onstott
(1887-01-12)January 12, 1887
Du Quoin, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJune 1, 1966(1966-06-01) (aged 79)
U.S.
OccupationNovelist
GenreFiction
Notable workMandingo

Kyle Elihu Onstott (January 12, 1887 – June 3, 1966)[1] was an American novelist, known for his best-selling novel Mandingo (1957), which deals with slavery on an Alabama plantation with the fictional name of Falconhurst in the 1830s. The book was made into a 1961 play[2] and film of the same name, which was released in 1975.[3]

Onstott was originally a dog breeder and judge in regional dog shows, living in California with his widowed mother in the early 1900s. He was a lifelong bachelor, but at age 40, he chose to adopt a 23-year-old college student, Philip, who had lost his own parents. Philip eventually married a woman named Vicky and the two remained close to Onstott for the rest of his life. Onstott dedicated Mandingo to Philip and Vicky.[4]

Onstott began writing Mandingo when he was 65 years old. He based some of the events in the novel on "bizarre legends" he heard while growing up: tales of slave breeding and sadistic abuse of slaves. Having collaborated with his adopted son on a book about dog breeding, he decided to write a book that would make him rich. "Utilizing his [adopted] son's anthropology research on West Africa, he handwrote Mandingo and his son served as editor. Denlinger's, a small Virginia publisher, released it and it became a national sensation."[5] He was invited to write an article for True: The Man's Magazine in 1959 about the horrors of slavery.[6]

A sequel and a series of other novels followed, mostly written with . Outside the usual setting of their work was the 1966 novel Child of the Sun, recounting the scandalous reign of the homosexual Roman emperor Elagabalus.

Works[]

  • The Million Dollar Journal
  • The New Art of Breeding Better Dogs (with Philip Onstott)
  • Mandingo (1957)
  • The Black Sun
  • Child of the Sun (with Lance Horner)
  • Falconhurst Fancy
  • Flight to Falconhurst
  • Master of Falconhurst
  • The Tattooed Rood
  • Drum (1962)
  • Strange Harvest (with Ashley Carter)

References[]

  1. ^ Kaser, James A. (2014). The New Orleans of Fiction: A Research Guide. Scarecrow Press. p. 288. ISBN 9780810892040. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Mandingo". Playbill. 1961.
  3. ^ Paul Brenner (2013). "Mandingo". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 2013-10-23.
  4. ^ Talbot 2009, p.5
  5. ^ Article by Rudy Maxa, "The Master of Mandingo", The Washington Post, July 13, 1975.
  6. ^ Talbot 2009, pp. 3, 6

External links[]


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