An "inquiry into the nature of artistic prodigies who did their major work at an early age ... Nicholas Delbanco gives us a triptych of ... portraits: the American writer Stephen Crane (immortalized by The red badge of courage); British artist Dora Carrington (called 'the most neglected serious painter of her time'); and the legendary composer George Gershwin (Rhapsody in blue, Porgy and Bess)"--Page 4 of cover.