Candida Donadio (October 22, 1929 - January 20, 2001) was an American literary agent. She represented many writers, including
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
novelists
Joseph Heller,
William Gaddis, and
Thomas Pynchon.
And Cormac McCarthy:
McCarthy goes on to tell Woolmer, “My agent for several years was Candida Donadio …”
source: https://www.texasobserver.org/unpacking-cormac-mccarthy/
Life
Donadio was born on October 22, 1929, in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York City.
Her parents were immigrants from Italy.
Donadio began her career by working as a secretary for
Herb Jaffe
Herb Jaffe (May 20, 1921 – December 7, 1991) was an independent film producer in the United States.
Biography
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and began his career as a literary agent, working for the likes of: Paddy Chayefsky – '' ...
.
She eventually founded her own literary agency, and she represented
Bruce Jay Friedman,
William Gaddis,
Joseph Heller,
Michael Herr
Michael David Herr (April 13, 1940 – June 23, 2016) was an American writer and war correspondent, known as the author of '' Dispatches'' (1977), a memoir of his time as a correspondent for ''Esquire'' (1967–1969) during the Vietnam War. The ...
,
Thomas Pynchon,
Mario Puzo, and
Robert Stone.
Heller's ''
Catch-22
''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...
'' was initially called ''Catch 18'', and it was changed to her birthday to avoid confusion with
Leon Uris's ''
Mila 18
''Mila 18'' is a novel by Leon Uris set in German-occupied Warsaw, Poland, before and during World War II. ''Mila 18'' debuted at #7 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller List (the second-highest debut of any Uris novel ever, bested only by th ...
''.
In 1984, Donadio sold 120 letters written by Pynchon to herself between 1962 and 1983 to
Carter Burden
Shirley Carter Burden Jr. (August 25, 1941 – January 23, 1996) was an American politician who served in the New York City Council from 1970 to 1977. He was a great-great-great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Burden received his B. ...
for $45,000 via Santa Barbara book dealer
Ralph Sipper.
Donadio resided in
Stonington, Connecticut
The town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and W ...
. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1995, and she died on January 20, 2001.