Jackson Pollock, the son of a farmer of Scots-Irish origin, was born in 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. He first came to public notice at the age of 30 when, under the auspices of Peggy Guggenheim, he exhibited 14 paintings of such power and originality that they created an immediate sensation in art circles worldwide. Within a few years Pollock was recognized as a major artist, whose work seemed to embody the energy and emotional intensity of America itself. In 1956 he died in a car crash. This biography reveals the disjointed childhood, sibling rivalry, sexual ambiguity and artistic frustration out of which both the man and the artist developed. From his pioneer forebears to the dustbowl of Arizona, to New York in the Depression and the avant-garde art world, Pollock's life story unfolds against the landscape of modern American history. The book won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize.