I am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft by S.T. Joshi Released

After eons of effort, the S.T. Joshi's 1200 page magnum opus on H.P. Lovecraft is officially out from Hippocampus Press and on the shelves of select dealers everywhere. I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft is a two volume set that expands on Joshi's definitive biography first published over a decade ago. While there are no sanity blasting revelations added that might vastly reshape our current understanding of HPL's life, this is easily his most complete sketch yet, offering a time bending window into the odd life of a 20th century weird fiction sorcerer.

More than anything else, I am Providence can serve as a slow acting stake through the heart of many Lovecraftian legends. Over the decades since his death, Lovecraft's life has been subjected to the most unsavory speculations. While those with a passing interest in Lovecraft's work will continue to cling to superstition, buttressed by internet echo chambers that perpetuate old rumors, it can no longer be forgiven in serious scholarship and among true devotees to his dark altar. As Lovecraftian writer Wilum Pugmire rightly says in his review of the book:

Joshi's book shews that, for one who suffered such peculiar upbringing, Lovecraft turned out as normal as any regular Joe. He did not spend his life in shadow, shunning daylight and walking the night. He loved warm weather and did much if not most of his writing out of doors in sunlit parks or sitting on boulders along the Seekonk whenever he could. As for not needing or wanting humanity, his steady social life, huge correspondence, and activity in the amateur press (he often attended gatherings outside of Providence) reveal a man who had an intimate relationship, social and intellectual, with other women and men. He was a ordinary guy with an extraordinary imagination. That imagination, and the daily activities of a very human being, are superbly recorded and understood in this magnificent biography, I AM PROVIDENCE. 

Even after the current edition sells out, Joshi's work will remain a testament to Lovecraft's ghost, almost as much as the bygone weirdsmith's own fiction. I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft is truly the book that probes deeper into his mind than any other. Long may it reign.

-Grim Blogger