Robert O'Connor (born 1959) is an American novelist and professor. His satiric novel ''Buffalo Soldiers'' was adapted into the 2001
movie of the same name.
Personal life
O'Connor received a B.A. in English/Writing Arts from the
State University of New York at Oswego, and an M.A. in English from
Syracuse University. As of 2005, he teaches Intermediate Fiction, Advanced Fiction and Intermediate Screenwriting at SUNY Oswego.
Literary career
He is the author of a novel, 1993's ''Buffalo Soldiers'', which was adapted into the
film of the same name. The literary magazine ''
Granta
''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...
'' called him one of the most promising young novelists, and novelist
James Carroll, in a positive review in ''
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 d ...
'', called him a "fine novelist." In the United Kingdom, ''Buffalo Soldiers'' was highly praised by the reviewer of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', who called it "powerful" and said that the novel's denouement was "delicate, unflinching and deeply moving." Other reviewers praised his portrayal of American military life in Germany, including its "race hatred and race-related violence."
The movie version of the book, which was initially produced for a 2001 release, was delayed until 2003 given the unfavorable portrayal of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
, which was particularly salient after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
.
References
External links
Author's pageat
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Robert
1959 births
Living people
State University of New York at Oswego alumni
State University of New York at Oswego faculty
American male novelists
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from New York (state)
Syracuse University alumni