New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
, August 28, 1915 –
Calabasas, California
Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains.Bryn Mawr’s summer College of Women Trade Unionists. He moved to New York and between 1936 and 1938 contributed to
Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
journals, such as ''The Militant'' and ''The New International''.
In New York City the
American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky The American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky was a pseudo-judicial process set up by :American Trotskyists, American Trotskyists as a front organization following the first of the Moscow Trials. It had no powers of subpoena, nor official i ...
was looking for an English-speaking secretary to assist
Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...
in Mexico. Wolfe’s friend Arthur Mizener, a professor at Yale, provided funds, and in 1937 Wolfe travelled to Mexico, where he worked for eight months as Trotsky’s bodyguard and secretary, acting as the liaison between Trotsky and the John Dewey Commission investigation into the Moscow Trials.
Between 1937 and 1939 Wolfe occasionally worked in the Merchant Marines.Geduld In 1939 he moved to Greenwich Village, where he eventually drifted away from the Trotskyite movement and met Anais Nin and
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...
. Through them he found employment writing pornographic novels (11 in 11 months) for the private collection of Roy Melisander Johnson, an Oklahoma oil millionaire. He credited his pornographic output with teaching him to write to specified lengths while facing deadlines: "I acquired the work discipline of a professional writer, capable of a solid daily output." In 1941 he was the assistant night editor for Paramount Newsreel for a few weeks. In 1943 and 1944 he wrote war-related science articles for ''Popular Science Monthly'' and ''Mechanix Illustrated''. He eventually became the editor of the latter magazine.
In 1946 he collaborated with the jazz musician
Mezz Mezzrow
Milton Mesirow (November 9, 1899 – August 5, 1972), better known as Mezz Mezzrow, was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. He is remembered for organizing and financing recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier ...
in writing Mezzrow's autobiography, ''Really the Blues''. The book was a popular success, introducing the mass audience to aspects of black culture. It received a flattering notice in Billy Rose's syndicated column in October of that year and in 1947 Wolfe was hired as
ghost writer
A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...
for Billy Rose’s syndicated column. Wolfe worked on a further study of "negro" culture in America, which was never published, but excerpts were published in American magazines in 1949 and 1950, translated for
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lit ...
’s ''
Les Temps modernes
''Les Temps Modernes'' (''Modern Times'') is a French journal, founded by Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It first issue was published in October 1945. It was named after the 1936 film by Charlie Chaplin.
''L ...
'' and quoted by
Frantz Fanon
Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have b ...
.
In 1950 he had psychoanalysis with Dr.
Edmund Bergler
Edmund Bergler ( , ; July 20, 1899 – February 6, 1962) was an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst whose books covered such topics as childhood development, mid-life crises, loveless marriages, gambling, self-defeating behaviors, and homosexualit ...
. Wolfe would return in his fiction to Bergler’s idea of "psychic masochism". Bergler's ideas of frigidity and the importance of the vaginal orgasm recur in Wolfe's presentation of female sexuality.
In 1951 he published a short story, "Self-Portrait", in ''Galaxy''. Its themes of cybernetics, artificial limbs and prostheses, computerised warfare, masochism and voluntary amputeeism would all be expanded upon in his first published novel, ''Limbo'' (1952). Because the novel was set in the then-distant future of 1990, the original British edition is entitled ''Limbo '90''. The publisher claimed that Wolfe had written "the first book of science-fiction to project the present-day concept of ' cybernetics' to its logical conclusion".
David Pringle
David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic.
Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...
praised Wolfe's "lucid intelligence" and claimed ''Limbo'' helped encourage him to start
writing fiction. Boucher and McComas, however, received the novel poorly, calling it "pretentious hodgepodge" and describing its theme as "a symbolically interesting idea . . . never developed with consistent or convincing details."
P. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller (February 21, 1912 – October 13, 1974) was an American science fiction writer and critic.
Life
Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a lifelong interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as ...
gave ''Limbo'' a mixed review, describing it as a "colossus of a novel" while faulting its "endless talk." More recently, analysis of ''Limbo'' has proven slightly more sympathetic to the novel, citing its relevance to the debate around computer control and the influence of machines on daily life; however, criticisms around the novel's contentious politics and misogyny remain.
His novel ''The Late Risers, Their Masquerade'' (1954), the title of which plays on
Herman Melville
Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...
’s ''The Confidence-man: His Masquerade'', is about the hustlers, actors and drug dealers who people late-night New York City. In 1955 and 1956 he wrote a number of television plays, some of which drew upon his experiences with Trotsky and as a ghost writer. His 1956 teleplay ''Five Who Shook the Mighty'', a dramatization of the trial of five Romanians who had captured the Romanian Communist legation in Switzerland, was the subject of protests by the Romanian embassy but was given a special award by the
Crusade for Freedom
The Crusade for Freedom was an American propaganda campaign operating from 1950–1960. Its public goal was to raise funds for Radio Free Europe; it also served to conceal the CIA's funding of Radio Free Europe and to generate domestic support fo ...
. He wrote a monthly column in 1957 for ''Nugget'', a men's magazine. His third novel, ''In Deep'' (1957), is a thriller featuring espionage, socialist hipsters and decades-old Communist vendettas played out in Cuba.
''The Great Prince Died'' (later republished as ''Trotsky Dead'') (1959) was a roman a clef about the events surrounding the assassination of Trotsky (called Victor Rostov in the novel). The book was well received by critics and reviewers, though many expressed doubts about the mixture of fact and fiction in the book. Trotskyites were highly critical of the book, particularly of Wolfe's theme that Trotsky's guilt about the
Kronstadt rebellion
The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Loc ...
was transformed into a masochistic death wish. A partial dramatization of ''The Great Prince Died'' on Turnley Walker's 1959 book program ''First Meeting'' was instrumental in bringing Wolfe to live in California. ''The Magic of Their Singing'' (1961) is another novel about New York City's counterculture, as university graduate Hoyt Fairliss explores the world of the beats and nonconformists.
In 1960 he began publishing stories in
Playboy magazine
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
, which paid him a retainer for a first option on his short work. In 1961 it was announced that Wolfe was writing an (unproduced) screenplay for
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...
about Hugh Hefner and ''Playboy'' magazine. In 1963 it was announced that Wolfe was writing the (unproduced) screenplay adaptation of Henry Miller's ''Tropic of Cancer''. ''Come On Out, Daddy'' was published in 1963, an expansion of bitter stories recently published in ''Playboy'' and ''Cavalier'' (as Andrew Foxe) about Gordon Rengs, a novelist and screenwriter, and his tawdry adventures in Hollywood. A short story collection, ''Move Up, Dress Up, Drink Up, Burn Up'' was published in 1968. In the late 1960s he taught at UCLA. Harlan Ellison solicited two stories ("The Girl with Rapid Eye Movements", about Gordon Rengs and the
generation gap
A generation gap or generational gap is a difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs, politics, or values. In today's usage, ''generation gap'' often refers to a perceived gap between younger people and their pare ...
) to appear in his 1972 science fiction anthology, ''Again, Dangerous Visions''. Wolfe wrote an autobiography, ''Memoirs of a Not Altogether Shy Pornographer'' (1972), the title of which alludes to
Kenneth Patchen
Kenneth Patchen (December 13, 1911January 8, 1972) was an American poet and novelist. He experimented with different forms of writing and incorporated painting, drawing, and jazz music into his works, which have been compared with those of Will ...
’s ''Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer''. His novel ''Logan’s Gone'' (1974), a return to the character of Gordon Rengs, features contemporary politics with campus protests and Vietnam veterans.
In 1974 Wolfe signed a seven-book contract with a recently formed Los Angeles publisher, Wollstonecraft Inc. Unfortunately the publisher suffered financial troubles, and Wolfe published no books after this. It remains uncertain whether several books may or may not have been printed, particularly because of variant titles used in a 1974 ''Publishers Weekly'' article. ''The Great Prince Died'' was republished with emendations as ''Trotsky Dead''. A novel entitled ''Full Disclosure'' and advertised to appear in 1975 as an “international suspense novel highlighting moral conflicts among the men who hold the keys to government secrets” may be the Watergate–inspired novel ''Lies'', whose publication corresponds with Wollstonecraft's 1975 schedule, about an undercover government agent whose marriage falters as does his faith in the work he does. ''Julie: The Life and Times of John Garfield'' (or ''Body and Soul: The Life and Death of John Garfield''), a biography of the actor by Wolfe and Edward Medard was advertised in several trade journals throughout 1975 and 1977 but its publication is uncertain. A novel, ''Blood Money'', and a collection of essays and reviews, ''Men Not Quite Without Women'', were never published.
In 1975 he collaborated with
Michael Blankfort
Michael Seymour Blankfort (December 10, 1907 – July 13, 1982) was an American screenwriter, writer of books and playwright. He served as a front for the blacklisted Albert Maltz on the Academy Award-nominated screenplay of '' Broken Arrow (1 ...
on a play, ''Karl and Arthur'', about
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...
.
Throughout the 1970s articles and profiles noted a lengthy novel that Wolfe was writing about the Delano grape strike. In 1969 Wolfe had conducted a series of UCLA lectures on the
proletarian novel
Proletarian literature refers here to the literature created by left-wing writers mainly for the class-conscious proletariat. Though the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states that because it "is essentially an intended device of revolution", it is t ...
, and the Delano grape strike had been employed as background in several of the stories in ''Move Up, Dress Up, Drink Up, Burn Up''.
Wolfe married the actress
Dolores Michaels
Dolores Rae Michaels (January 30, 1933 – September 25, 2001) was an American actress.
Biography Early life
Michaels was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Raymond Roscoe Michaels and his wife Esther Marie Holcomb.). Her father had been a bas ...
in Los Angeles on June 30, 1960.California Marriage Index, 1960-1985. - California Department of Health Services Office of Health Information and Research. - Vital Statistics Section. The marriage was her second and his first. The remained married until his death on Oct. 27, 1985. Death certificate lists Michaels as spouse at death. They had twin daughters, Jordan M. and Miranda I., born in Los Angeles on July 23, 1970.
Wolfe died of a heart attack at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital.
Selected works
Non-fiction
* ''How to Get a Job in the Aircraft Industry'' (1943)
* ''Plastics: What Everyone Should Know'' (1945) (ghost written by
Raymond Rosenthal
Raymond B. Rosenthal (December 19, 1914 – July 24, 1995) was an American translator of Italian literature into the English language.
He has translated the works of Primo Levi, Pietro Aretino, Aldo Busi, Piero Sanavio, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Pi ...
)
* ''Really the Blues'' with
Mezz Mezzrow
Milton Mesirow (November 9, 1899 – August 5, 1972), better known as Mezz Mezzrow, was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. He is remembered for organizing and financing recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier ...
(1946)
* ''Hypnotism Comes of Age'' (1949) (ghost written by
Raymond Rosenthal
Raymond B. Rosenthal (December 19, 1914 – July 24, 1995) was an American translator of Italian literature into the English language.
He has translated the works of Primo Levi, Pietro Aretino, Aldo Busi, Piero Sanavio, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Pi ...
)
Novels and collections
* ''
Limbo
In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...
'' (1952)
* ''The Late Risers, Their Masquerade'' (1954) (reprinted as ''Everything Happens at Night'')
* ''In Deep'' (1957)
* ''The Great Prince Died'' (reprinted as ''Trotsky Dead'') (1959)
* ''The Magic of Their Singing'' (1961)
* ''Come On Out, Daddy '' (1963)
* ''Move Up, Dress Up, Drink Up, Burn Up'' (short story collection)(1968)
* ''Logan's Gone'' (1974)
* ''Lies'' (1975)
Translations
The Plot (Všeobecné spiknutí) by
Egon Hostovský
Egon Hostovský (23 April 1908 – 7 May 1973) was a Czech people, Czech writer, editor and journalist.
Biography
Born in Hronov to a Jewish family, Hostovský studied at the gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Náchod in 1927, then took up ...
translated from Czech by Alice Backer and Bernard Wolfe, Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y. 1961
Teleplays
* The Assassin (Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse 20 February 1955) (inspired by the murder of Trotsky)
* The Ghost Writer (Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse 29 May 1955) (a political speech writer despises his work)
* The Outsiders (Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse 18 September 1955)
* Hooked (Justice 15 January 1956)
* Five Who Shook the Mighty (Armstrong Circle Theatre 20 March 1956)
* Pattern of Lies (Justice 25 March 1956)
Selected non-fiction
* Floating Fashions (By Raymond Rosenthal and Bernard Wolfe, Cosmopolitan, March 1947).
* Uncle Remus and the Malevolent Rabbit (Commentary, July 1949)
* Ecstatic in Blackface: The Negro as a Song-and-Dance Man (Modern Review, January 1950)
* War Bonds: More Delusions of Security (as Christopher Bliss, The American Mercury, April 1951)
* Are Taxes Making Liars of Us All? (as Christopher Bliss, The American Mercury, March 1952)
* Angry at What? (The Nation, 1 November 1958)
* The Man Who Murdered Trotsky (Coronet, July 1959)
* The 'Darks' Against the 'Lights' (Esquire, April 1960)
* Manners and Morals on the Sunset Strip (Esquire, August 1961)
* Swimming in Red Ink (Playboy, July 1964)
* Interview with Henry Miller (Playboy, September 1964)
* A Pair of Jokers and an Ace," (Sunday Herald Tribune, 25 July 1965).
* The Man Called I-l-l-y-a (The New York Times, October 24, 1965)
* The Step After Muscle (Cosmopolitan, February 1966).
* 30 Years After Stalin's Great Purge (New York Times, September 18, 1966)
* The Trouble with Harry (World Journal Tribune, 26 March 1967).
* The 10 Percenters Of Hollywood (New York Times, June 18, 1967)
* Our Generation Gap: Dialogue with the Mutant Young (Los Angeles Times, 6 August 1967)
* The Real-Life Death of Jim Morrison (Esquire, June 1972)
* Dearth in the Evening (Works in Progress #7, 1972)
* Swiftie the Magician: Rendering the Fad of the Camelot Myth (Los Angeles Times, 22 September 1974)
* review of ‘The Electronic Battlefield’ by Paul Dickson (Books West Magazine, Volume 1 #2, 1976)
Short stories
Many of his short stories were published by
Playboy Magazine
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
Playboy Magazine
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'', 1960
References
*David Galloway "An Erratic Geography: The Novels of Bernard Wolfe," Critique: Studies in Modern Fiction, VII (Spring 1964)
*John Leonard, "Whatever Happened to Bernard Wolfe?" New York magazine 22 April 1968