Vance Nye Bourjaily (September 17, 1922 – August 31, 2010) was an American novelist, playwright, journalist, creative writing teacher, and essayist.T. Rees Shapiro

from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', September 4, 2010.

Life

Bourjaily was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

to Monte Ferris Bourjaily, a Lebanese immigrant who was a journalist and later became editor of the

United Features Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wit ...

, and Barbara Webb, an American-born features author and novelist.Bruce Weber
''Vance Bourjaily, Novelist Exploring Postwar America, Dies at 87''
from ''

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 ...

'', September 3, 2010. Bourjaily moved several times during his youth. His childhood was spent in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and

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 * '' ...

. Bourjaily graduated from Handley High School in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

in 1939. After graduating, Bourjaily enrolled in

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

. With the coming of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Bourjaily became a volunteer ambulance driver from 1942 to 1944. He then served two years in the army from 1944 to 1946. Bourjaily's time in the army was a central theme to many of his later writings. His

Arab American Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World. According to the Arab American Inst ...

themes are explored by literary critic Evelyn Shakir Bourjaily graduated from

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1947. While at Bowdoin, he became a brother of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

fraternity (Theta chapter). After graduating, he lived for a few years in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, writing feature stories for the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

before moving to New York City in 1950. Bourjaily married Bettina Yensen in 1946. The couple had three children. His daughter Anna, along with the daughter's fifth-grade classmate, were killed in a 1964 car accident, in which Bourjaily was driving. Yensen and Bourjaily later divorced. Bourjaily remarried in 1985, to Yasmin Mogul (a former student) and had a son, Omar, by her. According to his wife, Bourjaily died in

Greenbrae, California Greenbrae is a small unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located south-southeast of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 33 feet (10 m), located adjacent to U.S. Route 101 at the opening of the Ross Valley. Part of ...

on August 31, 2010 after slipping into a coma just a few days after suffering from a fall. Bourjaily's son Phil is a columnist for ''

Field & Stream ''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American online magazine focusing on hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. The magazine was a print publication between 1895 and 2015 and became an online-only publication from 2020. History ...

'' magazine.

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mi ...

named his only son, Vance, after Bourjaily. Carver was a student at the

Iowa Writer's Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wri ...

where he became friends with Bourjaily.

Career

Bourjaily's first novel, entitled ''The End of My Life,'' was heavily influenced by Bourjaily's wartime experiences. Critics said that the novel borrowed heavily from the style and tone of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

. However, the novel was met with praise and was hailed by critic

John W. Aldridge John W. Aldridge (September 26, 1922 – February 7, 2007) was an American writer, literary critic, teacher and scholar. He was a professor of English at the University of Michigan, director of the Hopwood Program, and USIA Special Ambassador to ...

as a war novel on the level of Hemingway's ''Farewell to Arms''. Bourjaily's second novel, ''The Hound of Earth'', paints a picture of

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

America through the eyes of a scientist who helped develop the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

. His third novel, ''The Violated'', dealt with the themes of violence and alienation. This book was also met with critical praise. Bourjaily spent much of his career in academia. From 1957 to 1980, he worked as a creative writing instructor and a professor at the

. Bourjaily also worked at several other academic institutions such as

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

, the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, and

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. At the latter institution, he was the first director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing. In 1978, Bourjaily served as a judge on for the

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 Nat ...

's committee to choose the award for fiction.

Bibliography

*Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009.

Selected works

* ''The End of My Life'' (1947) * ''The Girl in the Abstract Bed (1954)'' * ''The Hound of Earth'' (1955) * ''The Violated'' (1958) * ''Confessions of a Spent Youth'' (1960) * ''The Unnatural Enemy: Essays on Hunting'' (1963) * ''The Man Who Knew Kennedy'' (1967) * ''Brill Among the Ruins'' (1970) * ''Country Matters: Collected Reports from the Fields and Streams of Iowa and Other Places'' (essays) (1973) * ''Now Playing at Canterbury'' (1976) * ''A Game Men Play'' (1980) * ''The Great Fake Book'' (1986) * ''Old Soldier: A Novel'' (1990)

References

External links

*
Papers by Vance Bourjaily
at the

website.
Vance Bourjaily Papers
at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

Libraries
Abstract on the novels of Vance Bourjaily
at Commentary Magazine
Vance Bourjaily
at the Biography Reference Bank {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourjaily, Vance 1922 births 2010 deaths Writers from Cleveland Novelists from Iowa American people of Lebanese descent 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty Oregon State University faculty American writers of Lebanese descent American male journalists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male novelists American male essayists American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American essayists Journalists from Ohio Novelists from Ohio Novelists from Oregon Bowdoin College alumni United States Army personnel of World War II