Alan Stuart Cheuse (January 23, 1940 – July 31, 2015) was an American writer, editor, professor of literature, and radio commentator. A longtime

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

book commentator, he was also the author of five novels, five collections of short stories and novellas, a memoir and a collection of travel essays. In addition, Cheuse was a regular contributor to

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

. His short fiction appeared in respected publications like ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', '' Ploughshares'', ''

The Antioch Review ''The Antioch Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1941 at Antioch College in Ohio. The magazine was published on a quarterly basis. One of the oldest continuously published literary magazines in the United States prior to it ...

'', '' Prairie Schooner'', among other places. He taught in the Writing Program at

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

and the Community of Writers.

Early life

Cheuse was born in

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", re ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Cheuse grew up in a Jewish family, the son of a Russian immigrant father and a mother of Russian and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n descent. Cheuse graduated from Perth Amboy High School in 1957.

Education

Cheuse graduated from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1961. After traveling abroad and working for several years at writing and editing jobs, Cheuse returned to

to study for a Ph.D. in

Comparative Literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

, which he was awarded in 1974. Cheuse wrote a thesis on the life and work of the Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. Cheuse taught literature at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

for nearly a decade and then took posts at Sewanee: The University of the South, the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, and the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Career

Cheuse joined the faculty at

in the M.F.A. program and taught fiction. For over 25 years, he taught summers at the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley and also served on its board of directors. In the late 1970s Cheuse began publishing short fiction, beginning with a story in ''

'', followed with articles for '' Ploughshares'', ''

'', '' Prairie Schooner'', and '' New Letters''. He published his first novel, a biographical historical work about John Reed and Louise Bryant in 1982. Other works of fiction and nonfiction followed. Cheuse was a regular book reviewer for the

radio program ''

''. In 1999, Cheuse also helped to found Fall for the Book, a nonprofit literary festival.

Personal life

Cheuse was involved in a serious car crash on July 14, 2015, on

California State Route 17 State Route 17 (SR 17, locally known as Highway 17) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from State Route 1 in Santa Cruz to I-280 and I-880 in San Jose. SR 17, a freeway and expressway, carries substan ...

while driving from Olympic Valley to

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

. Cheuse was reported to be in a coma on July 20, 2015, with injuries including fractured ribs,

cervical vertebrae In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In saurop ...

, and an acute

subdural hematoma A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges surrou ...

. On July 31, 2015, Cheuse died from his auto accident injuries in San Jose, California. He was 75.Colin Dwyer
"Alan Cheuse, Novelist And Longtime NPR Contributor, Dies At 75"
NPR News, 31 July 2015.

Legacy

Alan Cheuse's papers reside at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the

Bibliography

Books

* ''Candace and Other Stories''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Apple-wood Press, 1980. (short story collection) * ''The Bohemians: John Reed & His Friends Who Shook the World''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Apple-wood Books, 1982. (novel) * ''The Grandmothers' Club''. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books, 1986. (novel) * ''Fall Out of Heaven''. Salt Lake City: G. M. Smith, 1987. (memoir) * (novel) * ''The Tennessee Waltz and Other Stories''. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books, 1990. (short story collection) * ''Lost and Old Rivers: Stories''. Dallas, Tex.: Southern Methodist University Press, 1998. (short story collection) * (essays) * (novellas) * (novel) * (travel essays, 2009) * (novel) * ''Paradise, Or, Eat Your Face''. Santa Fe Writers Project, 2012. (novellas) * ''An Authentic Captain Marvel Ring & Other Stories''. Santa Fe Writers Project, 2014. (short stories) * ''Prayers for the Living''. London: Fig Tree Books, 2015.

Selected short fiction

* “Vishnu, Sleeping on the Cosmic Ocean,” The Antioch Review, summer 2013 *
Pip: A Story In Three Parts
" ''Michigan Quarterly Review'' Volume 51, Issue 1, Winter 2012. Based on the character Pip in Herman Melville's ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'' * “When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears and Watered Heaven with Their Tears” (novella), The Idaho Review, 2011 * “A Merry Little,” ACM, #48, Winter, 2009 * “An Authentic Captain Marvel Ring,” Superstition Review, Fall, 2008 * “A Little Death,” The Southern Review, Summer, 2007 * “Thirty-Five Passages Over Water,” The Antioch Review, Fall, 2006 * “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941,” New Letters, Fall, 2006 * “In the Kauri Forest,” Ploughshares, Fall, 2006 * “Gribnis,” Prairie Schooner, Winter, 2006 * “Horse Sacrifice and the Shaman’s Ascent to the Sky,” The Land-Grant College Review, Winter, 2005 * “Paradise, Or, Eat Your Face,” (novella), The Idaho Review, Winter, 2004 * “Revels,” Southern California Anthology, Summer, 2004 * “Days Given Over to Travel,” Prairie Schooner, Summer, 2003

Edited works

* With Lisa Alvarez et al. ''Writing Workshop in a Book: The Squaw Valley Community of Writers on the Art of Fiction''. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2007. * ''Seeing Ourselves: Great Early American Short Stories''. 2007. * With Nicholas Delbanco. ''Literature: Craft & Voice'', Vols. 1–3. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, 2012.

References

External links

Alan Cheuse's official website''Littoral'' interview with Alan Cheuse about his novel ''To Catch the Lightning,'' (2008)Public radio interview with Alan Cheuse about historical fiction and his novel ''To Catch the Lightning,'' (2008)Alan Cheuse bio at NPRSanta Fe Writers ProjectAlan Cheuse on 'Song of Slaves in the Desert'

An Authentic Captain Marvel Ring: Perth Amboy, New Jersey, C. 1947
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheuse, Alan 1940 births 2015 deaths American literary critics 20th-century American novelists American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Bennington College faculty George Mason University faculty Jewish American novelists People from Perth Amboy, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Sewanee: The University of the South faculty University of Michigan faculty University of Virginia faculty Novelists from New Jersey Novelists from Virginia 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers NPR personalities Perth Amboy High School alumni Road incident deaths in California Deaths from subdural hematoma 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Michigan Novelists from Tennessee Novelists from Vermont 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American Jews Writers from Middlesex County, New Jersey