Gilbert Sorrentino
Encyclopedia
Gilbert Sorrentino was an American
novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and editor.
In over twenty-five works of fiction and poetry, Sorrentino explored the comic and formal possibilities of language and literature. His insistence on the primacy of language and his forays into metafiction
mark him as a postmodernist, but he is also known for his ear for American speech and his attention to the particularities of place, especially of his native Brooklyn
.
, New York
in 1929. In 1956, Sorrentino founded the literary magazine Neon with friends from Brooklyn College, including childhood friend Hubert Selby Jr. He edited Neon from 1956 to 1960, then served as editor for
Kulchur from 1961 to 1963. After working closely with Selby on the manuscript of Last Exit to Brooklyn
(1964), Sorrentino was an editor at Grove Press
from 1965 to 1970, where one of his editorial projects was The Autobiography of Malcolm X
.
He eventually took up positions at Sarah Lawrence College
, Columbia University
, the University of Scranton
and the New School for Social Research in New York
before being hired as a professor of English at Stanford University
, where he served from 1982 to 1999.
His students included the novelists Jeffrey Eugenides
and Nicole Krauss
. His son, Christopher Sorrentino
, is the author of the novels Sound on Sound and Trance.
. The latter novel, a humorous postmodern romp, riffs on the metafictional possibilities introduced in Flann O'Brien
's novel At Swim-Two-Birds
, and is one of Sorrentino's most popular works.
His 1999 novel, Gold Fools, is written entirely in interrogative sentences not, as critic Steven Moore
says, "just to see if he could pull it off, but because he wanted to interrogate our cultural assumptions about the Old West."
In 2010 a posthumous novel, The Abyss of Human Illusion, was published by Coffee House Press with a preface by Christopher Sorrentino
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and editor.
In over twenty-five works of fiction and poetry, Sorrentino explored the comic and formal possibilities of language and literature. His insistence on the primacy of language and his forays into metafiction
Metafiction
Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
mark him as a postmodernist, but he is also known for his ear for American speech and his attention to the particularities of place, especially of his native Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Life
Sorrentino was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1929. In 1956, Sorrentino founded the literary magazine Neon with friends from Brooklyn College, including childhood friend Hubert Selby Jr. He edited Neon from 1956 to 1960, then served as editor for
Kulchur from 1961 to 1963. After working closely with Selby on the manuscript of Last Exit to Brooklyn
Last Exit to Brooklyn
Last Exit to Brooklyn is a 1964 novel by American author Hubert Selby, Jr. The novel has become a cult classic because of its harsh, uncompromising look at lower class Brooklyn in the 1950s and for its brusque, everyman style of prose....
(1964), Sorrentino was an editor at Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
from 1965 to 1970, where one of his editorial projects was The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X's 1965 assassination...
.
He eventually took up positions at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, the University of Scranton
University of Scranton
The University of Scranton is a private, co-educational Catholic and Jesuit university, located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the northeast region of the state. The school was founded in 1888 by Most Rev. William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. It was elevated to a...
and the New School for Social Research in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
before being hired as a professor of English at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where he served from 1982 to 1999.
His students included the novelists Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Kent Eugenides is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer. Eugenides is most known for his first two novels, The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex . His novel The Marriage Plot was published in October, 2011.-Life and career:Eugenides was born in Detroit, Michigan,...
and Nicole Krauss
Nicole Krauss
Nicole Krauss is an American author best known for her novels Man Walks Into a Room , The History of Love and, most recently, Great House...
. His son, Christopher Sorrentino
Christopher Sorrentino
Christopher Sorrentino is an American novelist and short story writer of Puerto Rican descent. He is the son of novelist Gilbert Sorrentino and Victoria Ortiz...
, is the author of the novels Sound on Sound and Trance.
Writing
Sorrentino's first novel, The Sky Changes, was published in 1966. Notable among his many other novels are Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things, Blue Pastoral, and Mulligan StewMulligan Stew (novel)
Mulligan Stew is a novel by Gilbert Sorrentino. It was first published in 1979 by Grove Press.-Release details:* 1979, USA, Grove Press ISBN 0-394-50717-7, Pub date 26 May 1979, Hardcover, First edition....
. The latter novel, a humorous postmodern romp, riffs on the metafictional possibilities introduced in Flann O'Brien
Flann O'Brien
Brian O'Nolan was an Irish novelist, playwright and satirist regarded as a key figure in postmodern literature. Best known for novels such as At Swim-Two-Birds, The Third Policeman and An Béal Bocht and many satirical columns in The Irish Times Brian O'Nolan (5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966) was...
's novel At Swim-Two-Birds
At Swim-Two-Birds
At Swim-Two-Birds is a 1939 novel by Irish author Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. It is widely considered to be O'Brien's masterpiece, and one of the most sophisticated examples of metafiction....
, and is one of Sorrentino's most popular works.
His 1999 novel, Gold Fools, is written entirely in interrogative sentences not, as critic Steven Moore
Steven Moore
Steven Moore is a former British World Water-Ski Racing world champion. He attained this title at the Australian World Championships in 1988.-References:...
says, "just to see if he could pull it off, but because he wanted to interrogate our cultural assumptions about the Old West."
In 2010 a posthumous novel, The Abyss of Human Illusion, was published by Coffee House Press with a preface by Christopher Sorrentino
Christopher Sorrentino
Christopher Sorrentino is an American novelist and short story writer of Puerto Rican descent. He is the son of novelist Gilbert Sorrentino and Victoria Ortiz...
.
Honors and awards
Sorrentino was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Guggenheim Fellowships in Fiction in 1973 and 1987, the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature (1981), PEN/Faulkner Award finalist in 1981 and 2003, the Mildred and Harold Strauss Livings of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (declined, 1982), the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature (1985), the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction (1992), and the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. He died in Brooklyn on May 18, 2006.Fiction
- The Sky Changes (1966)
- Steelwork (1970)
- Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (1971)
- Splendide-Hôtel (1973)
- Flawless Play Restored: The Masque of Fungo (1974)
- Mulligan StewMulligan Stew (novel)Mulligan Stew is a novel by Gilbert Sorrentino. It was first published in 1979 by Grove Press.-Release details:* 1979, USA, Grove Press ISBN 0-394-50717-7, Pub date 26 May 1979, Hardcover, First edition....
(1979) - Aberration of Starlight (1980)
- Crystal Vision (1981)
- Blue Pastoral (1983)
- Odd Number (1985)
- Rose Theatre (1987)
- Misterioso (1989)
- Under the Shadow (1991)
- Red the Fiend (1995)
- Gold Fools (1999)
- Little Casino (2002)
- The Moon in its Flight (short fiction, 2004)
- Lunar Follies (2005)
- A Strange Commonplace (2006)
- The Abyss of Human Illusion (2010)
Poetry
- The Darkness Surrounds Us (1960)
- Black and White (1964)
- The Perfect Fiction (1968)
- Corrosive Sublimate (1971)
- A Dozen Oranges (1976)
- White Sail (1977)
- Sulpiciae Elegidia: Elegiacs of Sulpicia (1977)
- The Orangery (1978)
- Selected Poems 1958-1980 (1981)
- A Beehive Arranged on Humane Principles (1986)
- New and Selected Poems 1958-1998 (2004)