William Reinhold "Gatz" Hjortsberg (February 23, 1941 – April 22, 2017) was an American novelist and screenwriter, known for his originality and for writing the screenplay of the film ''

Legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

''. His novel ''

Falling Angel ''Falling Angel'' is a 1978 horror novel by American writer William Hjortsberg. Written in a hardboiled detective style with supernatural themes, it was adapted into the 1987 film ''Angel Heart''. Plot summary Johnny Favorite, a popular cro ...

'' was the basis for the film '' Angel Heart'' (1987). The novel was adapted into an opera in 2015, composed by J. Mark Scearce with a libretto by

Lucy Thurber Lucy Thurber is an American playwright based in New York City. She is the recipient of the first Gary Bonasorte Memorial Prize for Playwriting, a Lilly Award and a 2014 OBIE Award for ''The Hill Town Plays''. Biography She was born in ...

. His 2015 novel ''Mañana'' is a thriller set in Mexico. Hjortsberg the only child of a Swedish restaurateur father and a Swiss mother. He attended Dartmouth College, the Yale School of Drama (where he met Thomas McGuane), and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He was married three times, and had a son and a daughter. He died of pancreatic cancer.

Novels

*''Alp'' (1969) *'' Gray Matters'' (1971) *''Symbiography'' (1973) *''Toro! Toro! Toro!'' (1974) *''

'' (1978) *''Tales & Fables'' (1985), published by

Sylvester & Orphanos Sylvester & Orphanos was a publishing house originally founded in Los Angeles by Ralph Sylvester, Stathis Orphanos and George Fisher in 1972. When Fisher moved to New York City, ''Sylvester & Orphanos'' specialized in limited-signed press books. Or ...

*'' Nevermore'' (1994) *''Mañana'' (2015) *''Angel's Inferno'' (2020)

Screenplays

*'' Thunder and Lightning'' (1977) *'' The Georgia Peaches'' (1980) (TV) *''

'' (1985)

Nonfiction

* A biography of writer

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935 – c. September 16, 1984) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. A prolific writer, he wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four bo ...

References

External links

William Hjortsberg official website
* 1941 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American novelists American horror writers American male novelists American mystery writers American science fiction writers American male screenwriters Writers from New York City 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Montana {{US-screen-writer-stub