first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

Gun, with Occasional Music ''Gun, with Occasional Music'' is a 1994 novel by American writer Jonathan Lethem that blends science fiction and hardboiled detective fiction. The novel won Lethem the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1995. It was also nominated for the ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

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".The Fortress of Solitude'', which became a ''New York Times'' Best Seller. In 2005, he received a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...

. Since 2011, he has taught creative writing at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

.

Early life

Lethem was born 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, to Judith Frank Lethem, a political

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, and Richard Brown Lethem, an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

painter. He was the eldest of three children. His father was Protestant (with Scottish and English ancestry) and his mother was Jewish, from a family with roots in Germany, Poland, and Russia. His brother Blake became an artist involved in the early New York hip hop scene, and his sister Mara became a photographer, writer, and translator. The family lived in a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the pre-

gentrified Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

Brooklyn in the northern section of the neighborhood of Gowanus (now called Boerum Hill). Lethem's fourth grade teacher at P.S. 29 in nearby Cobble Hill was future New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, whom he called the "perfect" teacher and to whom he dedicated his first novel, ''

Gun, with Occasional Music ''Gun, with Occasional Music'' is a 1994 novel by American writer Jonathan Lethem that blends science fiction and hardboiled detective fiction. The novel won Lethem the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1995. It was also nominated for the ...

''. Despite the racial tensions and conflicts, he later described his

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

childhood as "thrilling" and culturally wide-reaching.McGlone, Jackie
"Brooklyn Dodger"
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'', 2007-05-26. Retrieved on 2007-08-29. He gained an encyclopedic knowledge of the music of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, saw ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' twenty-one times during its original theatrical release,Edemariam, Aida
"The Borrower"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2007-06-02. Retrieved on 2007-08-01. and read the complete works of the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

writer Philip K. Dick. Lethem later said Dick's work was "as formative an influence as

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

or punk rock—as equally responsible for beautifully fucking up my life, for bending it irreversibly along a course I still travel." His parents divorced when Lethem was young. When he was thirteen, his mother Judith died from a malignant

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

, an event which he has said haunted him and has strongly affected his writing. (Lethem discusses the direct relation between his mother and the

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

song "

Like a Rolling Stone "Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted fro ...

" in the 2003 Canadian documentary ''Complete Unknown''.) In 2007, Lethem explained, "My books all have this giant, howling missing enter��language has disappeared, or someone has vanished, or memory has gone." Intending to become a visual artist like his father, Lethem attended the

High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...

in New York, where he painted in a style he describes as "glib, show-offy, usually cartoonish"."Interview: Jonathan Lethem"
''Post Road Magazine,'' Fall/Winter 2002. Retrieved on 2007-08-29. At Music & Art he produced his own zine, ''The Literary Exchange,'' which featured artwork and writing. He also created animated films and wrote a 125-page novel, ''Heroes'', still unpublished. After graduating from high school, Lethem entered

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

in 1982 as a prospective art student. At Bennington, Lethem experienced an "overwhelming. ... collision with the realities of class—my parents' bohemian milieu had kept me from understanding, even a little, that we were poor. ... at Bennington that was all demolished by an encounter with the fact of real privilege." This, coupled with the realization that he was more interested in writing than art, led Lethem to drop out halfway through his sophomore year. He

hitchhiked Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado, to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, in 1984, across "a thousand miles of desert and mountains through Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, with about 40 dollars in my pocket", describing it as "one of the stupidest and most memorable things I've ever done."Kelleghan, Fiona
"Private Hells and Radical Doubts: An Interview with Jonathan Lethem"
''

Science Fiction Studies ''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science fic ...

'' 25.2, July 1998. Retrieved on 2007-09-17 Lethem lived in California for twelve years, working as a clerk in used bookstores, including Moe's and Pegasus & Pendragon Books, and writing on his own time."License at the Margins"
''California Magazine'', June 2010. Retrieved on 2010-07-04. Lethem published his first short story in 1989 and published several more in the early 1990s.Houle, Zachary

''The SF Site'', November 2000. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.

Career

First novels

Lethem's first novel, ''

Gun, with Occasional Music ''Gun, with Occasional Music'' is a 1994 novel by American writer Jonathan Lethem that blends science fiction and hardboiled detective fiction. The novel won Lethem the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1995. It was also nominated for the ...

'', is a merging of science fiction and the Chandleresque detective story, which includes talking

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

s, radical futuristic versions of the drug scene, and cryogenic prisons. The novel was published in 1994 by

Harcourt Brace Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City a ...

, in what Lethem later described as a "delirious" experience. "I'd pictured my first novels being published as paperback originals", he recalled, "and instead a prestigious house was doing the book in cloth. ... I was in heaven." The novel was released to little initial fanfare, but an enthusiastic review in ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', which declared ''Gun'' an "audaciously assured first novel", catapulted the book to wider commercial success.Gaffney, Elizabeth
"Jonathan Lethem: Breaking the Barriers Between Genres"

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

, 1998-03-30. Retrieved on 2007-09-19. ''Gun, with Occasional Music'' was a finalist for the 1994 Nebula Award, and placed first in the "Best First Novel" category of the 1995 ''

Locus Magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields ...

'' reader's poll. In the mid-1990s, film producer-director

Alan J. Pakula Alan Jay Pakula (; April 7, 1928 – November 19, 1998) was an American film director, writer and producer. He was nominated for three Academy Awards: Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture for ''To Kill a Mockingbird (film), To Kill a Moc ...

optioned the novel's movie rights, which allowed Lethem to quit working in bookstores and devote his time to writing. His next book was ''

Amnesia Moon ''Amnesia Moon'' is a 1995 novel by Jonathan Lethem. Lethem adapted the novel from several unpublished short stories he had written, all about catastrophic, apocalyptic events. When Tor Books published the second edition in 1996, they commissi ...

'' (1995). Partially inspired by Lethem's experiences hitchhiking cross-country, this second novel uses a

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

narrative to explore a multi-

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

future landscape rife with perception tricks. After publishing many of his early stories in a 1996 collection, '' The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye'', Lethem published his third novel, ''

As She Climbed Across the Table ''As She Climbed Across the Table'' is a 1997 in literature, 1997 science fiction novel by the American writer Jonathan Lethem. It is a satirical story set on the fictional campus of Beauchamp University in Northern California. Particle physics, P ...

'' (1997). It starts with a physics researcher who falls in love with an artificially generated spatial anomaly called "Lack", for whom she spurns her previous partner. Her ex-partner's comic struggle with this rejection, and with the anomaly, constitute the majority of the narrative. In 1996, Lethem moved from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

back to Brooklyn. His next book, published after his return to Brooklyn, was '' Girl in Landscape''. In the novel, a young girl must endure

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...

while also having to face a strange and new world populated by aliens known as Archbuilders. Lethem has said that ''Girl in Landscape''s plot and characters, including the figures of a young girl and a violently protective father figure, were "very strongly influenced" by the 1956 John Wayne

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

''

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...

'', a movie with which he is "obsessed".

Mainstream success and "genre bending"

Jonathan Lethem at the Brooklyn Book Festival

The first novel Lethem began after returning to New York City was '' Motherless Brooklyn'', a return to the detective theme. He maintained objective realism while exploring subjective

alterity Alterity is a philosophical and anthropological term meaning "otherness", that is, the "other of two" (Latin ''alter''). It is also increasingly being used in media to express something other than "sameness", or something outside of tradition or co ...

through Lionel Essrog. His protagonist has

Tourette's syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...

and is obsessed with language. Lethem later said that Essrog

... obviously sthe character I've written with whom I most identify ... he novelstands outside myself ... It's the only one which doesn't need me, never did. It would have found someone to write it, by necessity.

Upon its publication in 1999, ''Motherless Brooklyn'' won the

National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction The National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, established in 1976,Macallan Gold Dagger for crime fiction, and the

Salon Book Award ''Salon'' is an American Progressivism in the United States, politically progressive/Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on Politics of the United States, U.S. politics ...

; it was named book of the year by ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

''. In 1999, actor

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...

announced that he was planning to write, direct and star in a film adaptation of the novel. Norton's film was released in 2019. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', the mainstream success of ''Motherless Brooklyn'' made Lethem "something of a hipster celebrity", and he was referred to several times as a "

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

bender".Cardwell, Diane
"Untangling the Knots of a Brooklyn Boyhood"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 2003-09-16. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. Critics cited the variety of Lethem's novels, which were alternately hard-boiled detective fiction, science fiction, and autobiographical. Lethem credited his comfort in genre-mixing to his father's art, which "always combined observed and imagined reality on the same canvas, very naturally, very un-self-consciously." In ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine,

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), ''The Magician King'' (2011), and ''The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technology ...

classed Lethem with a movement of authors similarly eager to blend literary and popular writing, including

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

(with whom Lethem is friends),Henderson, Eleanor
"From Pittsburgh to Sitka: On Michael Chabon’s ''The Yiddish Policemen’s Union''"
(book review), ''

The Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussion" ...

'', Summer 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-28. Margaret Atwood, and Susanna Clarke. In 2003, Lethem commented on the concept of "genre bending":

The fact is, I used to get very involved, six or seven years ago, and before that, in questions of taxonomy of genre, and in the idea—which is ultimately a political idea—that a given writer, perhaps me, could in some objective way alter or reorganize the boundaries between genres. ... Nowadays, I've come to feel that talking about categories, about "high" and "low", about genre and their boundaries and the blurring of those boundaries, all consists only of an elaborate way to avoid actually discussing what moves and interests me about books—my own, and others'. What I like are books in their homely actuality—the insides of the books, the mysterious movements of characters and situations and the emotions that accompany those movements. The play of sentences, their infinite variety."Jonathan Lethem Interview"
, ''FailBetter.com,'' Summer/Fall 2003. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.

In the early 2000s, Lethem published a story collection, edited two anthologies, wrote magazine pieces, and published the 55-page novella ''This Shape We're In'' (2000). ''This Shape We're In'' was one of the first offerings from

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

Books, the publishing

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

that developed from Dave Eggers' ''

McSweeney's Quarterly Concern ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'' is an American literary journal, founded in 1998, typically containing short stories, reportage, and illustrations. Some issues also include poetry, comic strips, and novellas. ''The Quarterly Concern'' i ...

''. In November 2000, Lethem said that he was working on an uncharacteristically "big sprawling" novel, about a child who grows up to be a rock journalist. The novel was published in 2003 as '' The Fortress of Solitude''. The semi-autobiographical ''

bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood ( coming of age), in which character change is impo ...

'' features dozens of characters in a variety of milieus, but features a tale of racial tensions and boyhood 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 ...

during the late 1970s. The main characters are two friends of different backgrounds who grew up on the same block in Boerum Hill. It was named one of nine "Editor's Choice" books of the year by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and has been published in fifteen languages. Lethem's second collection of short fiction, ''Men and Cartoons'', was published in late 2004. In March 2005, ''The Disappointment Artist'', his first collection of essays, was released. On September 20, 2005, Lethem received a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...

. In an interview with ''Armchair/Shotgun'' in 2009, Lethem said of short fiction:

I'm writing short stories right now, that's what I do between novels, and I love them. I'm very devoted to it. You know, it's funny. There seems to be some sort of law that you only get to be celebrated for one or the other. And then a couple of people will break it. Updike did. They didn't review his story collections by saying, "Well, these are nice, but he's a novelist." Or review his novels by saying, "Well, too bad he can't do the longer stuff." Other people tend to get patronized on one end or the other—and I'll take it. I have a very happy life as a novelist. But the story collections I've published are tremendously important to me. And many of the uncollected stories—or yet-to-be-collected stories—are among my proudest writings. They're very closely allied, obviously, to novel writing. But also very distinct, and, you know, there's no need to choose.

2005–present

Jonathan Lethem Occupy Wall Street 2011 Shankbone

In September 2006, Lethem wrote the article "The Genius of Bob Dylan", a lengthy interview with Bob Dylan, which was published in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. The interview contained Lethem's reflections on Dylan's artistic achievements. It revealed Dylan's dissatisfaction with contemporary recording techniques and his thoughts on his own status. After ''Motherless Brooklyn'' and ''The Fortress of Solitude'', Lethem decided that " was time to leave Brooklyn in a literary sense anyway ... I really needed to defy all that stuff about place and memory." In 2007, he returned as a novelist to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where some of his earlier fiction had been set, with '' You Don't Love Me Yet'', a novel about an upstart rock band. The novel revolves around a woman in the band, Lucinda, who answers phones for her friend's complaint line and uses some of a caller's words as lyrics. According to Lethem, the book was inspired by the years he spent as the lead singer in an upstart California band in the late 1980s and early 1990s, during what he called "the unformed posturing phase of life".Gilbert, Megan
"A Hit Song of the Mind: Profile of Jonathan Lethem, Author, You Don't Love Me Yet"
2007-05-21. Retrieved on 2012-01-27. The novel takes its title from two (otherwise unconnected) songs of the same title by Roky Erickson and The Vulgar Boatmen. The original title was ''Monster Eyes'', but Lethem was convinced to change it by his publisher. He later admitted to an interviewer that the association with the two songs "made it feel very lucky to me to put it on the book," and that even though the new title "isn’t my phrase, for a book about appropriated language and the way things can be repurposed, it seemed okay. And, it’s a beautifully passive-aggressive title." The novel received mixed reviews. In 2005, Lethem had announced that he was planning to revive the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

character

Omega the Unknown Omega the Unknown is an American comic book published by Marvel Comics from 1976 to 1977, featuring the eponymous fictional character. The series, written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney, ran for 10 issues befor ...

in a ten-issue series to be published in 2006. After hearing of the project, Omega co-creator

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include '' Man-Thing'', '' Omega the Unknown,'' '' Marvel Spotlig ...

expressed personal outrage over the use of the character without his participation, though he later discussed the project with Lethem and admitted that he had "misjudged" him.Johnson, Rich
"Into the Unknown"
Comic Book Resources, 2005-06-14. Retrieved on 2006-12-23. In May 2006, Marvel Editor-in-Chief

Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...

explained that the series had been delayed to 2007, saying that "winning the MacArthur Grant put additional and unexpected demands on ethem'stime." The revamped ''Omega the Unknown'' series was published in ten monthly issues from October 2007 to July 2008; the issues were published in a single volume in October 2008. In early 2007, Lethem began work on ''

Chronic City ''Chronic City'' (2009) is a novel by American author Jonathan Lethem. Summary Lethem began work on ''Chronic City'' in early 2007, and has said that the novel is "set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it’s strongly influenced by Saul Bel ...

'', which was published on October 13, 2009. In July 2008, Lethem said that ''Chronic City'' is "set on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, it's strongly influenced by

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...

, Philip K. Dick, Charles G. Finney and

Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

'' and it concerns a circle of friends including a faded child-star actor, a cultural critic, a hack ghost-writer of autobiographies, and a city official. And it's long and strange."Renaud, Jeffrey
"Lethem Exits the Unknown with ''Omega''"
Comic Book Resources, 2008-07-18. Retrieved on 2008-08-03. His essay, "The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism" (2007), is a passionate defense of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

and a call for a return to a " gift economy" in the arts. He writes,

The kernel, the soul—let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances—is plagiarism ... Don't pirate my editions; do plunder my visions. The name of the game is Give All. You, reader, are welcome to my stories. They were never mine in the first place, but I gave them to you.

The essay was included in his 2011 collection, ''The Ecstasy of Influence: Nonfictions, Etc.'' In 2011, ''The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick'', edited by Pamela Jackson and Lethem, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Among other projects, Lethem published short books about John Carpenter's film ''

They Live ''They Live'' is a 1988 American science fiction action horror film written and directed by John Carpenter, based on the 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson. Starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster, the fil ...

'' (published in October, 2010 as ''They Live'') and the

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

album ''

Fear of Music ''Fear of Music'' is the third studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on August 3, 1979, by Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City during April and May 1979 and was produced by Brian Eno and Talking Heads ...

''.Scott, Ronnie
"The Rumpus Long Interview with Jonathan Lethem"
The Rumpus, 2010-01-19. Retrieved on 2010-03-20. Starting in 2011, he served as the Roy E. Disney Professor in Creative Writing at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

, a position formerly held by the late

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...

. Lethem's ninth novel, entitled ''

Dissident Gardens ''Dissident Gardens'' is Jonathan Lethem's ninth novel. It is a multigenerational saga of revolutionaries and activists, the civil rights movement and the counterculture, from the 1930s Communists to the 2010s Occupy movement, and is mostly set ...

'', was released on September 10, 2013. According to Lethem in an interview with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', the novel concerns "American leftists", very specifically "a red-diaper baby generation trying to figure out what it all means, this legacy of American Communism." Regarding the novel's setting, Lethem said in the same interview that it is

set in Queens and Greenwich Village, another New York neighborhood book, very much about the life of the city ... writing about Greenwich Village in 1958 was really a jump for me, it was as much of an imaginative leap as any of the more fantastical things I've done. But really exciting, too.

''Dissident Gardens'' was quickly followed up in February 2015 with ''Lucky Alan and Other Stories'', Lethem's fifth short story collection. Lethem's tenth novel, '' A Gambler's Anatomy'' (or, alternatively, ''The Blot'' in the United Kingdom), published in October 2016, concerns "an international backgammon hustler who thinks he's psychic". After changing publishers from Doubleday to Ecco, Lethem followed ''A Gambler's Anatomy''/''The Blot'' with ''The Feral Detective'' in November 2018, Lethem's first foray back into the detective novel genre since the acclaimed ''Motherless Brooklyn''. Lethem's twelfth novel, ''The Arrest'' - an "utterly original postapocalyptic yarn about two siblings, the man that came between them, and a nuclear-powered super car," according to the publishers - was published in November 2020. Lethem co-wrote six out of nine songs on the

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

album '' Electric Trim'', released in 2017. He wrote the introduction to David Bowman's 2019 novel, ''Big Bang''.

Personal life

In 1987, Lethem married the writer and artist

Shelley Jackson Shelley Jackson (born 1963) is an American writer and artist known for her cross-genre experimental works. These include her hyperfiction ''Patchwork Girl'' (1995) and her first novel, ''Half Life'' (2006). Biography In her own words: "Shelley ...

; they were divorced by 1997. In 2000, he married Julia Rosenberg, a Canadian film executive; they divorced two years later. As of 2007, Lethem lived in Brooklyn and Berwick,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, with his third wife, the filmmaker Amy Barrett. He has two sons.

Bibliography

Novels

*''

Gun, with Occasional Music ''Gun, with Occasional Music'' is a 1994 novel by American writer Jonathan Lethem that blends science fiction and hardboiled detective fiction. The novel won Lethem the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1995. It was also nominated for the ...

'' (1994) *''

Amnesia Moon ''Amnesia Moon'' is a 1995 novel by Jonathan Lethem. Lethem adapted the novel from several unpublished short stories he had written, all about catastrophic, apocalyptic events. When Tor Books published the second edition in 1996, they commissi ...

'' (1995) *''

As She Climbed Across the Table ''As She Climbed Across the Table'' is a 1997 in literature, 1997 science fiction novel by the American writer Jonathan Lethem. It is a satirical story set on the fictional campus of Beauchamp University in Northern California. Particle physics, P ...

'' (1997) *'' Girl in Landscape'' (1998) *'' Motherless Brooklyn'' (1999) *'' The Fortress of Solitude'' (2003) *'' You Don't Love Me Yet'' (2007) *''

Chronic City ''Chronic City'' (2009) is a novel by American author Jonathan Lethem. Summary Lethem began work on ''Chronic City'' in early 2007, and has said that the novel is "set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it’s strongly influenced by Saul Bel ...

'' (2009) *''

Dissident Gardens ''Dissident Gardens'' is Jonathan Lethem's ninth novel. It is a multigenerational saga of revolutionaries and activists, the civil rights movement and the counterculture, from the 1930s Communists to the 2010s Occupy movement, and is mostly set ...

'' (2013) *'' A Gambler's Anatomy'' (2016) *''The Feral Detective'' (2018) *''The Arrest'' (2020)

Short fiction

Novellas

*''This Shape We're In'' (2000)

Short story collections

*'' The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye'' (1996) *''

Kafka Americana ''Kafka Americana'' is a 1999 collection of short stories by Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz based on the life (and alternate histories) and works of Franz Kafka. Originally published in a limited edition by Subterranean Press, it was released ...

'' (1999) (with

Carter Scholz Carter Scholz (né Robert Carter Scholz; born 1953) is an American speculative fiction author and composer of music. He lives in California. Biography Scholz grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey and graduated from Tenafly High School in 1971. He also ...

) *''Men and Cartoons'' (2004) *''How We Got Insipid'' (2006) *''Lucky Alan and Other Stories'' (2015)

List of short stories

Comics

*''

Omega the Unknown Omega the Unknown is an American comic book published by Marvel Comics from 1976 to 1977, featuring the eponymous fictional character. The series, written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney, ran for 10 issues befor ...

'' (2007)

Non-fiction

"Monstrous Acts and Little Murders"
(''

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

'' essay, January 1997) *''The Vintage Book of Amnesia'' (editor, 2001) *''Da Capo Best Music Writing: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country and More'' (editor, 2002)
"You Don't Know Dick"
(''

Bookforum ''Bookforum'' is an American book review magazine devoted to books and the discussion of literature that was based in New York City, New York. The magazine was founded in 1994 and announced in December of 2022 it would cease publishing after 2 ...

'' essay, Summer 2002) *''The Disappointment Artist'' (2005) *"The Beards" (''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' February 28, 2005) *''Believeniks!: 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book About the Mets'' with Christopher Sorrentino, as "Ivan Felt and Harris Conklin" (2006) *''The Subway Chronicles'' (contributor, 2006)
"Being James Brown"
(''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' essay, June 2006)
"The Genius of Bob Dylan"
(''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' interview, September 2006)
"The Ecstasy of Influence"
('' Harper's Magazine'' essay, February 2007) *''Brooklyn Was Mine'' (contributor, 2008) *''They Live'' (2010) *''The Ecstasy of Influence: Nonfictions, Etc.'' (2011) *'' The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick'' (2011, co-editor with Pamela Jackson) *''Talking Heads' Fear Of Music'' (2012) (for '' 33⅓'' series) * *''More Alive and Less Lonely: On Books and Writers'' (2018)

Film adaptations

*'' Light and the Sufferer'' (2009) – screenplay by Christopher Peditto based on a short story by Lethem *''The Epiphany'' (2011) – short film by SJ Chiro based on a short story by Lethem *'' Motherless Brooklyn'' (2019) – screenplay by Edward Norton

References

Sources

*

External links

*
Pomona College faculty page
* * * * Jonathan Lethem Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lethem, Jonathan 1964 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers Bennington College alumni The High School of Music & Art alumni Jewish American novelists Jewish American short story writers MacArthur Fellows American male essayists People from Berwick, Maine Postmodern writers The New Yorker people World Fantasy Award-winning writers Writers from Brooklyn Novelists from California Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Maine 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers People from Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Pomona College faculty 21st-century American Jews

Early life

Career

First novels

Mainstream success and "genre bending"

2005–present

Personal life

Bibliography

Novels

Short fiction

Novellas

Short story collections

List of short stories

Comics

Non-fiction

Film adaptations

References

Sources

Further reading

External links