The Man Who was Dr. Seuss

About the Book

The Man Who Was Dr. Seuss . . . is the first major personal and literary biography of Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. This book will show you. . . • The origins of the hypnotic, galloping rhyme scheme which he used in his first book and in many thereafter (and how John Phillip Sousa made the same discovery and wrote “The Star Spangled Banner” a decade earlier). . . • How serendipity — a happy accident of fate — resulted in the publication of the first Dr. Seuss book, And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, after that book had been turned down by 27 book publishers. . . • The origins of If I Ran the Zoo. . . • How serendipity again played a part in Horton Hatches the Egg!, Bartholomew and the Oobleck and The Lorax. . . • Theodor Geisel’s views of international justices in “The Sneetches,” Yertle the Turtle and Horton Hears a Who!. . . • The morals for children in Horton Hatches the Egg!, How The Grinch Stole Christmas! And other Dr. Seuss books. . . • How a $50. Bet — which Theodor Geisel won — led to a revolution in children’s literature. . . • How inventing a common phrase led to a classic Dr. Seuss book. . . • Which Dr. Seuss character is a classic trickster hero of folklore. . . • How a cynical phrase from his college days resulted in another Dr. Seuss classic decades later. . . • Why mothers and fathers are seldom seen in Dr. Seuss books. . . • And finally, in all these fabulous facts and fanciful fables, how and why Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel became an American icon. . . . The Life And Work Of Theodor Geisel

About the Author

Thomas Fensch has been writing for publication since 1967. His work has appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines since that time. He is also the author or editor of 19 books of non-fiction, including The Hardest Parts: techniques for effective nonfiction and The Sports Writing Handbook. He has also taught nonfiction writing at the university level for 25 years and has published biographies of John Steinbeck, James Thurber, Oskar Schindler and Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. A native of Ohio, Thomas Fensch has a doctorate in communications from Syracuse University and lives near Houston, Texas.