Stanley Lawrence Elkin (May 11, 1930 – May 31, 1995) was an American
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...
,
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
writer, and
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...
ist. His extravagant, satirical fiction revolves around American
consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the ...
,
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in ...
, and male-female relationships.
Biography
Elkin was born to a Jewish family in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, and grew up in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
from age three onwards. He did both his undergraduate and graduate work at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...
, receiving a bachelor's degree in English in 1952 and a Ph.D. in 1961 for his dissertation on
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most ...
. During this period he was drafted and served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957. In 1953 Elkin married Joan Marion Jacobson. He was a member of the English faculty at Washington University in St. Louis from 1960 until his death, and battled multiple sclerosis for most of his adult life. In 1968, he signed the " Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
During his career, Elkin published ten novels, two volumes of novellas, two books of short stories, a collection of essays, and one (unproduced) screenplay. Elkin's work revolves about American pop culture, which it portrays in innumerable darkly comic variations. Characters and especially prose style take full precedence over plot. His language is extravagant and exuberant, baroque and flowery, taking fantastic flight from his characters' endless patter. "He was like a jazz artist who would go off on riffs," said critic William Gass. In a review of '' George Mills'', Ralph B. Sipper wrote, "Elkin's trademark is to tightrope his way from comedy to tragedy with hardly a slip." About the influence of ethnicity on his work Elkin said he admired most "the writers who are stylists, Jewish or not. Bellow is a stylist, and he is Jewish. William Gass is a stylist, and he is not Jewish. What I go for in my work is language."
Although living in the Midwest, Elkin spent his childhood and teenage summers in a bungalow colony called West Oakland, on the Ramapo River in northern New Jersey not far from Mahwah, the home of Joyce Kilmer. This was a refuge for a close-knit group of several score families, mostly Jewish, from the summer heat of New York City and urban New Jersey. Elkin's writings placed in New Jersey were informed by this experience.
Elkin won 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".George Mills'' in 1982 and for ''
Mrs. Ted Bliss
''Mrs. Ted Bliss'' is a 1995 novel by American author Stanley Elkin, published by Hyperion Books. It concerns the last eventful years in the life of an old widow. Elkin won the 1995 National Book Critics Circle Award in the fiction category for ...
'', his last novel, in 1995. ''The MacGuffin'' was a finalist for the 1991
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The N ...
for Fiction. However, although he enjoyed high critical praise, his books have never enjoyed popular success. The 1976 Jack Lemmon film ''
Alex & the Gypsy
''Alex & the Gypsy'' is a 1976 American comedy film directed by John Korty and written by Lawrence B. Marcus. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Geneviève Bujold, James Woods, Gino Ardito, Robert Emhardt and Titos Vandis. The film was released on ...
'' was based on Elkin's novella "The Bailbondsman".
Elkin died May 31, 1995, of a heart attack, twenty days after his 65th birthday. His manuscripts and correspondence are archived in
Olin Library Olin Library may refer to:
Libraries named after Stephen Olin:
* Olin Library at Wesleyan University
Libraries named after John M. Olin:
* Olin Library at Cornell University Library
* Olin Library at Washington University Libraries
Libraries nam ...
* ''Boswell: A Modern Comedy'' (1964)
* ''A Bad Man'' (1967)
* ''The Dick Gibson Show'' (1971)
* ''The Franchiser'' (1976)
* ''The Living End'' (novella) (1979)
* '' George Mills'' (1982)
* ''The Magic Kingdom'' (1985)
* ''The Rabbi of Lud'' (1987)
* ''The MacGuffin'' (1991)
* ''
Mrs. Ted Bliss
''Mrs. Ted Bliss'' is a 1995 novel by American author Stanley Elkin, published by Hyperion Books. It concerns the last eventful years in the life of an old widow. Elkin won the 1995 National Book Critics Circle Award in the fiction category for ...
'' (1995)
Story collections
* ''Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers'' (1966)
* ''Early Elkin'' (1985)
Novella collections
* ''Searches and Seizures'' (1973) (U.K. title: ''Eligible Men'' (1974))
* ''Van Gogh's Room at Arles'' (1993)
Other works
* "A Prayer for Losers", from the ''Why Work'' Series (edited by
Gordon Lish
Gordon Lish (born February 11, 1934 in Hewlett, New York) is an American writer. As a literary editor, he championed many American authors, particularly Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah, Amy Hempel, Rick Bass, and Richard Ford. He is the father ...
) (1966)
* ''Stanley Elkin's Greatest Hits'' (anthology; foreword by Robert Coover) (1980)
* ''The Six-Year-Old Man'' (screenplay) (1987)
* ''Pieces of Soap'' (collected essays) (1992)
Limited editions
* ''The First George Mills'' (Part One of ''George Mills''; 376 copies, all signed by Elkin and the illustrator, Jane E. Hughes) (1980)
* ''Why I Live Where I Live'' (essay; 30 unnumbered copies) (1983)
* ''The Coffee Room'' (radio play; 95 copies, all signed by Elkin and the illustrator, Michael McCurdy) (1987)
Audio
* "A Poetics for Bullies", read by Jackson Beck, with comments by Elkin, in ''New Sounds in American Fiction'', Program 10. (edited by Gordon Lish) (1969)
* 1995 – National Book Critics Circle Award for ''Mrs. Ted Bliss''
* 1994 – PEN Faulkner Award finalist for ''Van Gogh's Room at Arles''
* 1991 – National Book Award finalist for Fiction for ''The MacGuffin''
* 1982 – National Book Critics Circle Award for ''George Mills''