Joseph Prince McElroy (born August 21, 1930) is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is noted for his long postmodern novels such as '' Women and Men''.

Personal background

McElroy was born on August 21, 1930, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and grew up in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...

. He graduated from

Poly Prep Country Day School Poly Prep Country Day School (commonly known as Poly Prep) is an independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The Middle School (5th to 8th grades) and Upper School (9th to 12th grades) are loc ...

in 1947 and was given an Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award in 2007 from the school's Board of Governors. He graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

in 1951. The following year, McElroy earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He served in the Coast Guard from 1952 to 1954, and then returned to Columbia to complete his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1961.''World Authors 1975–1980 In 1961, McElroy married Joan Leftwich, of London, in London. She is the daughter of Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jews; her father,

Joseph Leftwich Joseph Leftwich (Zutphen September 28 1892 – Islington February 28 1983), born Joseph Lefkowitz, was a British critic and translator into English of Yiddish literature.Schwartz, Richard H. (2001). ''Judaism and Vegetarianism''. p. 175. Lantern ...

, was a translator and anthologizer of Yiddish poetry. The McElroys' only child, Hanna, was born in 1967. McElroy assisted with the birth.

Career

McElroy taught English and Creative Writing at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

from 1956 to 1962 and at

Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body ...

from 1964 to 1995, when he retired. McElroy's first novel, ''A Smuggler's Bible'', was published in 1966. McElroy said ''A Smuggler's Bible'' "is like everybody's first novel, trying to put too much between covers. ... 's a young book, and young people still seem to like it." McElroy's writing is often grouped with that of

William Gaddis William Thomas Gaddis, Jr. (December 29, 1922 – December 16, 1998) was an American novelist. The first and longest of his five novels, '' The Recognitions'', was named one of TIME magazine's 100 best novels from 1923 to 2005 and two oth ...

and

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

, due to the encyclopedic quality of his novels, especially ''Women and Men'' (1987). His short fiction was first published in literary journals. Echoes of McElroy's work can be found in that of

Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, perf ...

and

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...

. McElroy's work often reflects a preoccupation with how science functions in American society; ''Exponential'', a collection of essays published in Italy in 2003, collects science and technology journalism written primarily in the 1970s and 1980s for the ''New York Review of Books''. In 1980, McElroy and his class at Queens College interviewed Norman Mailer. He interviewed

Harry Mathews Harry Mathews (February 14, 1930 – January 25, 2017) was an American writer, the author of various novels, volumes of poetry and short fiction, and essays. Mathews was also a translator of the French language. Life Born in New York City to an ...

in 2002 for the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

''. McElroy wrote about his fiction and influences in his essay "Neural Neighborhoods".

Honors and awards

* John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Fiction, 1976 *

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

Award in Literature, 1977 * Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship *

Ingram Merrill Foundation The Ingram Merrill Foundation was a private foundation established in the mid-1950s by poet James Merrill (1926-1995), using funds from his substantial family inheritance.J. D. McClatchyBraving the Elements ''The New Yorker'', 27 March 1995. Retrie ...

Fellowship, twice *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Fellowship, twice

Published works

Novels

* '' A Smuggler's Bible'',

Harcourt Brace Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City a ...

, 368 pages, 1966. * '' Hind's Kidnap: A Pastoral on Familiar Airs'',

Harper and Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 534 pages, 1969. * '' Ancient History: A Paraphase'',

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, 307 pages, 1971. * ''

Lookout Cartridge ''Lookout Cartridge'' is Joseph McElroy's fourth novel, published by Knopf in 1974. The narrator, Cartwright, had made with his friend Dagger an art film/documentary about power using loaned professional equipment, with scenes set in Stonehen ...

'',

, 531 pages, 1974. * ''

Plus Plus may refer to: Mathematics * Addition * +, the mathematical sign Music * ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011 * ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961 * ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003 * ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...

'', Knopf, 215 pages, 1977. * '' Women and Men'', Knopf, 1192 pages, 1987. * '' The Letter Left to Me'', Knopf, 151 pages, 1988. * '' Actress in the House'',

Overlook A scenic viewpoint – also called an observation point, viewpoint, viewing point, vista point, lookout, scenic overlook,These terms are more commonly used in North America. etc. – is an elevated location where people can view scenery (often ...

, 432 pages, 2003. * ''

Cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

'',

Dzanc Books Dzanc Books is an American independent press book publisher. It is a non-profit 501(c)(3) private foundation. Michelle Dotter is publisher and editor-in-chief. Background Dzanc Books was founded in 2006 by Steven Gillis, a lawyer turned novelis ...

, 312 pages, 2013.

Short stories

* ''The Accident'', New American Review, Number 2, January 1968. * '' Ship Rock: A Place'', William B. Ewert, Concord, New Hampshire, limited edition, 42 pages, 1980 ** republished as a chapter in ''Women and Men'', 1987 * '' Preparations for Search'' 1984 ** revised and printed as a chapbook, by Small Anchor Press, 2010 * ''Night Soul and Other Stories'',

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

, 304 pages, 2011. * ''Taken From Him'', Kindle Singles, 2014. *

Essays

* ''Exponential'' (2003; published in Italy) * "Neural Neighborhoods and Other Concrete Abstracts" (1974)

References

External links

*
The Literary Encyclopedia

A Joseph McElroy Festschrift (electronic book review)

"The Courage of Joseph McElroy" (essay)

Radio interviews with Michael Silverblatt for Bookworm

Conversation with author Joshua Cohen for a Triple Canopy podcast

"Neural Neighborhoods"
{{DEFAULTSORT:McElroy, Joseph 1930 births Living people Postmodern writers American science fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) American male novelists Writers from Brooklyn Williams College alumni Columbia University alumni Poly Prep alumni University of New Hampshire faculty Queens College, City University of New York faculty National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Rockefeller Fellows United States Coast Guard enlisted People from Brooklyn Heights