Reciprocity and the “Real” Author: Willa Cather as S. S. McClure's Ghostwriter

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay examines Willa Cather's role ghostwriting S. S. McClure's My Autobiography (1914). That Cather was the ghostwriter is not in dispute, but critics have questioned the degree to which her authorship conforms to ghostwriting conventions, as well as whether any clear signs of her voice can be detected in the final text. Making connections to autobiography theory and the development of ghostwriting in the history of authorship as a profession, “Reciprocity and the ‘Real’ Author” argues that the collaboration between Cather and McClure is best understood as one link in a chain of embedded exchanges. Since these exchanges involved both economic and symbolic capital, efforts to repay created additional layers of indebtedness. Further, these systems of exchange take form as narrative elements on the pages of McClure's autobiography.