George Michael Cuomo
Encyclopedia
George Michael Cuomo is the author of eight novels, as well as short stories, poetry, and a nonfiction book.
. He earned a B.A. from Tufts University
in 1952 and an M.A. from Indiana University
in 1955. He has taught at the University of Arizona
, the University of California
, Victoria University
in British Columbia
, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
His work appeared in Antioch Review, Minnesota Review, The Nation, Saturday Review, Tamarack Review.
Cuomo's first novel, Jack be Nimble, was published in 1963. The novel's eponymous narrator evokes (no doubt intentionally) the anti-hero of All the King's Men, transplanted to the topsy-turvy world of collegiate football. His subsequent novels, which include Among Thieves, Family Honor, and Trial By Water, engage troubling issues of race, class, and social justice. Cuomo's deeply fallible heroes tend to be people that genteel society would prefer to forget: a small-time criminal caught up in a brutal prison riot, a colored boy ensnared in a domestic terrorist plot.
His name has been mentioned more than once in lists of unfairly neglected authors, for example by Richard Yates
in Ploughshares
.
His papers are held at Victoria University
.
Life
He attended Stuyvesant High SchoolStuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
. He earned a B.A. from Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in 1952 and an M.A. from Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
in 1955. He has taught at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Victoria University
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
His work appeared in Antioch Review, Minnesota Review, The Nation, Saturday Review, Tamarack Review.
Cuomo's first novel, Jack be Nimble, was published in 1963. The novel's eponymous narrator evokes (no doubt intentionally) the anti-hero of All the King's Men, transplanted to the topsy-turvy world of collegiate football. His subsequent novels, which include Among Thieves, Family Honor, and Trial By Water, engage troubling issues of race, class, and social justice. Cuomo's deeply fallible heroes tend to be people that genteel society would prefer to forget: a small-time criminal caught up in a brutal prison riot, a colored boy ensnared in a domestic terrorist plot.
His name has been mentioned more than once in lists of unfairly neglected authors, for example by Richard Yates
Richard Yates (novelist)
Richard Yates was an American novelist and short story writer, known for his exploration of mid-20th century life.-Life:...
in Ploughshares
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...
.
His papers are held at Victoria University
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
.
Works
- Trial By Water, Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated, ISBN 9780679422402
- Jack be nimble: a novel, Doubleday, 1963
- Bright day, dark runner: a novel, Doubleday, 1964
- Among Thieves, Doubleday, 1968 ISBN 9780340109106
- Sing, choirs of angels, Doubleday, 1969
- The hero's great great great great great grandson: a novel, Atheneum, 1971
- Geronimo and the Girl Next Door, BkMk Press, 1973, ISBN 9780933532168
- Family honor: an American life, Doubleday, 1983, ISBN 9780385110778
External links
- "The Fiction of George Cuomo", The Arizona quarterly, Volume 30, 1974