Alan Isler (September 12, 1934 – March 29, 2010) was an American novelist and professor. He left his native England for the United States at age 18, served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1954 to 1956, received a doctorate in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and taught

Renaissance Literature Renaissance literature refers to European literature which was influenced by the intellectual and cultural tendencies associated with the Renaissance. The literature of the Renaissance was written within the general movement of the Renaissance, ...

Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body ...

from 1967 to 1995. In 1994 he won the

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.JQ Wingate Prize The Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Literary Prize is an annual British literary prize inaugurated in 1977. It is named after the host ''Jewish Quarterly'' and the prize's founder Harold Hyam Wingate. The award recognises Jewish and non-Jewish writers r ...

for his first novel “The Prince of West End Avenue”, which was also a finalist for the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

, and often concerned with the bitter-sweet condition of the solitary Jew in a Gentile world. Alan Isler died after a long illness on March 29, 2010.NYTimes March 31 2010

Works

*'' The Prince Of West End Avenue'' 1994, a comedy set in a New York Jewish old persons' home, and centred on the retirees’ preparations for their upcoming production of

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

. *'' Kraven Images'' 1996, partly a hilarious sixties-style sex-romp set in a Bronx College, and partly a mad but mournful attempt to resolve the past in London and Yorkshire. *'' The Bacon Fancier'', also published as '' Op. Non. Cit.'' 1999, four satirical tales wrought from the sideshows of literature. *'' Clerical Errors'' 2002, in which the peregrinations of a Jewish Catholic priest give rise to a fierce yet tender lampoon of Catholicism. German translation "Klerikale Irrtümer", Random House - Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2002, Printed by Friedrich Pustet Verlag Regensburg *''

The Living Proof "The Living Proof" is a song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige for the soundtrack of the 2011 film ''The Help (film), The Help''. The song was later included on her tenth studio album ''My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1)'' (2011 ...

'' 2005, a famous and anti-Semitic painter hires a Jewish biographer.

References

* Uwe Meyer: "‘My libido ..has always been quite normal’: Love and Sexuality Among the Elderly in the Works of Alan Isler". In: Jansohn, Christa (Hg.): ''Old Age and Ageing in British and American Culture and Literature''. Münster 2004, pp. 197–211 (= ''Studien zur englischen Literatur'', hg. v. Dieter Mehl, Bd. 16). * Uwe Meyer: "‘ rot on inhospitable ground’: The World of Academia In the Works of Alan Isler". In: Fielitz, Sonja / Meyer, Uwe (eds.): ''Shakespeare. Satire. Academia. Essays in Honour of Wolfgang Weiss''. Heidelberg 2012, pp. 143–165 (= ''Anglistische Forschungen'', hg. v. Rüdiger Ahrens, Heinz Antor, Klaus Stierstorfer, Bd. 424). {{DEFAULTSORT:Isler, Alan 1934 births 2010 deaths English satirists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists British emigrants to the United States Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Queens College, City University of New York faculty American academics of English literature 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers

Works

References

Further reading