Robert Lowell Coover (born February 4, 1932) is an American novelist, short story writer, and T.B. Stowell Professor Emeritus in Literary Arts at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...

Background

Coover was born in Charles City,

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. He attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale, received his B.A. in Slavic Studies from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest c ...

in 1953, then served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1953 to 1957, where he became a lieutenant. He received an M.A. in General Studies in the Humanities from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1965. In 1968, he signed the " Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. Coover has served as a teacher or writer in residence at many universities. He taught at Brown University from 1981 to 2012. Coover's wife is the noted needlepoint artist Pilar Sans Coover. They have three children, including Sara Caldwell.

Literary career

Coover's first novel was '' The Origin of the Brunists'', in which the sole survivor of a mine disaster starts a religious cult. His second book, ''

The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. ''The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.'' is Robert Coover's second novel, published in 1968. Plot summary J. Henry Waugh is an accountant, albeit an unhappy one. However, each night after he comes home from work, Hen ...

'', deals with the role of the creator. The eponymous Waugh, a shy, lonely accountant, creates a baseball game in which rolls of the dice determine every play, and dreams up players to attach those results to. Coover's 1969 short story collection ''Pricksongs and Descants'' contains the celebrated metafictional story "The Babysitter," which was adapted into the 1995 movie of the same title, directed by Guy Ferland. Coover's best-known work, '' The Public Burning'', deals with the case of

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret i ...

in terms that have been called magic realism. Half of the book is devoted to the mythic hero

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...

of tall tales, dealing with the equally fantastic Phantom, who represents international

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

. The alternate chapters portray the efforts of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

to stage the execution of the Rosenbergs as a public event in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. As reviewer Thomas R. Edwards wrote 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 ...

'', "Astonishingly, Nixon is the most interesting and sympathetic character in the story." Coover's 1982 novella ''Spanking the Maid'' remained one of his favorites; asked in an interview "Which of your books will get you into heaven?", Coover quipped, "''Spanking the Maid''. God's deep into S&M." A later novella, ''Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears'' (1987), offers an alternate Nixon, one who is devoted to football and sex with the same doggedness with which he pursued political success in this reality. The theme anthology ''A Night at the Movies'' includes the story "You Must Remember This", a piece about ''

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

'' that features an explicit description of what Rick and Ilsa did when the camera wasn't on them. ''Pinocchio in Venice'' returns to mythical themes. In 1987 he was the winner of the

Rea Award for the Short Story The Rea Award for the Short Story is an annual award given to a living American or Canadian author chosen for unusually significant contributions to short story fiction. The Award The Rea Award is named after Michael M. Rea, who was engaged in t ...

. In 2021,

Literary Hub Literary Hub is a daily literary website that launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and Electric Literature founder Andy Hunter. Conte ...

announced Coover was working on a collaboration with Art Spiegelman titled ''Street Cop''.

Electronic literature

Coover was a supporter of early

electronic literature Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature encompassing works created exclusively on and for digital devices, such as computers, tablets, and mobile phones. A work of electronic literature can be defined as "a constr ...

, and was one of the founders of the Electronic Literature Organization. He taught electronic literature at

and organized events such as the Technology Platforms for 21st Century Literature (TP21CL), held at Brown in 1999. In 1992 he published the essay "The End of Books" 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 ...

, making a mainstream audience aware of the new genre for perhaps the first time. The "now infamous" essay "roiled the literary scene and declaimed the imminent demise of the novel". Many scholars of electronic literature reference the essay, for instance

J. Yellowlees Douglas Jane Yellowlees Douglas (born J. Yellowlees Douglas; June 25, 1962) is a pioneer author and scholar of hypertext fiction. She began writing about hypermedia in the late 1980s, very early in the development of the medium. Her 1993 fiction '' I Ha ...

in the title of her book, ''The End of Books–Or Books Without End? Reading Interactive Narratives''. In 1993, Coover published a second New York Times essay on electronic literature: "Hyperfiction: Novels for the Computer" Coover established the MFA program in Digital Language Arts at

, and helped bring a string of writers of electronic literature to the university, including John Cayley, Talan Memmott, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, William Gillespie and Samantha Gorman.

Talan Memmott Talan may refer to: People * Deb Talan (born 1968), American singer-songwriter * Jeffrey Talan (born 1971), Dutch football player * Raúl Talán (1907–1992), Mexican boxer * Rick Talan (1960–2015), Dutch football player * Roman Talan (born ...

was Brown University's first graduate fellow of electronic writing.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' The Origin of the Brunists'' (1966) *''

'' (1968) *'' The Public Burning'' (1977) *'' Gerald's Party'' (1986) *'' Pinocchio in Venice'' (1991) *'' John's Wife'' (1996) *''

Ghost Town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

'' (1998) *'' The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Director's Cut'' (2002) *'' Noir'' (2010) *'' The Brunist Day of Wrath'' (2014) *''

Huck Out West ''Huck Out West'' is a 2017 novel by American author Robert Coover. The novel concerns the lives of Tom Sawyer Thomas Sawyer () is the titular character of the Mark Twain novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other ...

'' (2017) *'' Open House'' (2023)

Short fiction

Novelettes *''Street Cop'' (with Art Spiegelman) (2021) Novellas *'' A Political Fable'' (1968); reprinted as ''The Cat in the Hat for President: A Fable'' (2018) *''

Spanking the Maid Spanking is a form of corporal punishment involving the act of striking, with either the palm of the hand or an implement, the buttocks of a person to cause physical pain. The term spanking broadly encompasses the use of either the hand or im ...

'' (1982) *''Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears'' (1987) *''Dr. Chen's Amazing Adventure'' (1991) *'' Briar Rose'' (1996) *''The Grand Hotels (of Joseph Cornell)'' (2002) *''Stepmother'' (2004) *''The Enchanted Prince'' (2018) Collections *'' Pricksongs & Descants'' (1969) *'' In Bed One Night & Other Brief Encounters'' (1983) *'' A Night at the Movies or, You Must Remember This'' (1987) *'' A Child Again'' (2005) *''Going for a Beer: Selected Short Fictions'' (2018) *''Coover Stories'' (2023) Uncollected Stories *“Blackdamp.” ''Noble Savage,'' no. 4 (October 1961), 218-29. *“The Square Shooter and the Saint: A Story about Jerusalem.” ''Evergreen Review'', no. 25 (July/August 1962): 92-101. *“Dinner with the King of England.” ''Evergreen Review'', no. 27 (November/December 1962): 110-18. *“D.D. Baby.” ''Cavalier'', July 1963, 53-56, 93. *“The Neighbors.” ''Argosy'', January 1966, 129-33. *“Letter from Patmos.” ''Quarterly Review of Literature'', no. 16, 1969, 29-31. *“That the Door Opened.” ''Quarterly Review of Literature'', no. 16, 1969, 311-17. *“The Reunion.” ''Iowa Review'' 1.4 (Fall 1970): 64-67. *“Party Talk: Unheard Conversation at ''Gerald’s Party. Fiction International'' 18.2 (Spring 1990): 187-203. *“A Sudden Story.” ''TriQuarterly'', no. 78, Spring/Summer 1990, 396. *“Touch.” ''Paris Review'' 40.149 (Winter 1998): 155-59. *“The Photographer.” ''Fence Magazine'' 2.2 (Fall/Winter 1999-2000): 30-41. *“On Mrs. Willie Masters.” ''Review of Contemporary Fiction'' 24.3 (Fall 2004): 10-23. *“Ten Minutes in the Orxatería La Valenciana.” ''Storie, Afternoon Anthology'', no. 42/43, 2008, 227. *“Red-Hot Ruby.” ''Conjunctions'', no. 50, Spring 2008, 450-69.
The Case of the Severed Hand
" ''Harper's Magazine,'' June 2008.
White-Bread Jesus
. ''Harper's Magazine'', December 2008.
The War Between Sylvania and Freedonia
" ''Harper’s Magazine'', July 2010, 62-66.
An Encounter
. ''Fortnightly Review'', 2010.
The Old Man
.''Fortnightly Review,'' 2011. *“The Box.” ''Conjunctions'', no. 56, Spring 2011, 221-27.
Matinée
. ''New Yorker'', 25 July 2011, 67-71.
Vampire
. ''Granta,'' 21 October 2011.
The Colonel’s Daughter
. ''New Yorker'', 2 September 2013.
The Frog Prince
. ''New Yorker'', 27 January 2014.
The Waitress
. ''New Yorker'', 19 May 2014.
The Crabapple Tree
. ''New Yorker'', 12 January 2015.
The Hanging of the Schoolmarm
. ''New Yorker'', 28 November 2016.
The Wall
. ''Conjunctions'', no. 68, Spring 2017.
The Boss
. ''New Yorker'', 2 August 2017.
M*rphed
. ''Granta'', 20 October 2017.
Treatments
. ''New Yorker'', 30 April 2018.
Hulk
. ''Granta'', 10 June 2019.
Citizen Punch
. ''New Yorker'', 18 July 2019.

Plays

*''The Kid'' (1970) *''Love Scene'' (1971) *''Rip Awake'' (1972) *''A Theological Position'' (1972)

Other

*''The Water Pourer'' (1972) An unpublished chapter from ''The Origin of the Brunists'', signed by author and limited to 300 copies. 22 pages. * (essay) *
The Bad Book"
On the Bible

Awards and honors

*1967

William Faulkner Foundation Award The William Faulkner Foundation (1960-1970) was a charitable organization founded by the novelist William Faulkner in 1960 to support various charitable causes, all educational or literary in nature. The foundation The foundation programs includ ...

for notable first novel for ''The Origin of the Brunists'' *1987

William Faulkner, Brandeis University, American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Endowment of the Arts, Rea Lifetime Short Story, Rhode Island Governor's Arts, Pell, and Clifton Fadiman Awards, Rockefeller, Guggenheim, Lannan Foundation, and DAAD fellowships

References

External links

Faculty Home Page at Brown University
*– Interview *

*– Novelist Robert Coover's keynote address at the Electronic Literature in Europe seminar (elitineurope.net), September 13, 2008. Introduced by Scott Rettberg. Videography by Martin Arvebro. * Radio Interview * Bookworm Interviews (Audio) with

Michael Silverblatt Michael Silverblatt (born August 6, 1952) is a literary critic and American broadcaster who hosted '' Bookworm'', a nationally syndicated radio program focusing on books and literature, from 1989 to 2022. ''Bookworm'' is broadcast by Los Angeles ...

December 2005December 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coover, Robert 1932 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American tax resisters Brown University faculty Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Electronic literature critics Novelists from Iowa Writers from Providence, Rhode Island Indiana University Bloomington alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty Postmodern writers People from Charles City, Iowa The New Yorker people American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers United States Navy officers Military personnel from Iowa