Mitch Berman
Encyclopedia
Mitch Berman is an American fiction writer known for his imaginative range, exploration of characters beyond the margins of society, lush prose style and dark humor.
and the Pulitzer Prize
. A New York Times "New and Noteworthy Book,", the novel evoked comparisons with Mark Twain
's Huckleberry Finn
, and the musicality of its author's style was noted by many critics, including Fanny Howe
in The New York Times
, the San Diego Union ("a pied piper laying down a hypnotic line of patter"), the San Francisco Chronicle ("reminiscent of a Thelonius Monk solo"), and Kurt Vonnegut
("high-intensity jazz for the very sharpest of readers"). Carolyn See
, in the The Los Angeles Times, hailed "a brave and heartening book" and the author's "absolutely perfect ear for dialogue." The novel's editor was the late Faith Sale, who also worked with Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller
, Thomas Pynchon
, Amy Tan
and Kazuo Ishiguro
.
Berman's stories, nominated for seven Pushcart Prizes, have been named to two special mentions in the Pushcart Prizes and a one in The Best American Short Stories. Major anthologies in which his work is represented include Pow Wow: Charting the Fault Lines in the American Experience, Voices of the Xiled: A Generation Speaks for Itself,'The Male Body, and Sudden Fiction (Continued).
for the Village Voice. His Los Angeles Times Magazine profile of the world chess champions, Garry Kasparov
and Anatoly Karpov
, received special mention in the first Best American Sports Writing, edited by David Halberstam
and Glenn Stout. With Susanne Lee, he served as co-freelance editor of Children of the Dragon: The Story of Tiananmen Square (essays and photographs from the student movement), reviewed several books on the crackdown, among them one by Harrison Salisbury
for The Nation, and, for the Los Angeles Times Magazine, profiled jazz drummer Max Roach
. He has also reviewed the works of science fiction authors Harlan Ellison
and Ray Bradbury
for the Los Angeles Times Book Review.
and Russell Banks
, he graduated from the MFA Program in Writing at Columbia University
in 1991. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin
and SUNY Purchase, where he served as the first holder of the Royal and Shirley Durst Chair in Literature.
Time Capsule
Berman's novel Time Capsule, the tale of a jazz saxophonist's journey across a post-apocalyptic America, was nominated by its publisher, Putnam, for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN AwardHemingway Foundation/PEN Award
The Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award is awarded annually to a novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Ernest Hemingway Foundation, which has been administered by the Hemingway...
and the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
. A New York Times "New and Noteworthy Book,", the novel evoked comparisons with Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic Mark Twain novel.Huckleberry Finn may also refer to:*Huckleberry Finn , a fictional character in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
, and the musicality of its author's style was noted by many critics, including Fanny Howe
Fanny Howe
Fanny Howe is an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She has written many novels in prose collection. Howe was awarded the 2009 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, presented annually by the Poetry Foundation to a living U.S...
in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the San Diego Union ("a pied piper laying down a hypnotic line of patter"), the San Francisco Chronicle ("reminiscent of a Thelonius Monk solo"), and Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
("high-intensity jazz for the very sharpest of readers"). Carolyn See
Carolyn See
Carolyn See is the author of nine books, including the memoir, Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America, an advice book on writing, Making a Literary Life, and the novels There Will Never Be Another You and The Handyman....
, in the The Los Angeles Times, hailed "a brave and heartening book" and the author's "absolutely perfect ear for dialogue." The novel's editor was the late Faith Sale, who also worked with Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller was a US satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His best known work is Catch-22, a novel about US servicemen during World War II...
, Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, Amy Tan
Amy Tan
Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages...
and Kazuo Ishiguro
Kazuo Ishiguro
Kazuo Ishiguro OBE or ; born 8 November 1954) is a Japanese–English novelist. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and his family moved to England in 1960. Ishiguro obtained his Bachelor's degree from University of Kent in 1978 and his Master's from the University of East Anglia's creative writing...
.
Short stories
Berman's stories span an eclectic array of characters, settings and circumstances:- In "Wabi", a young rock guitarist, hammered into a coma by skinheads, awakens with no short-term memory to discover that his father has had a sex-change operation
- In "Immoral Woman", a long-dead Shanghai silent film star escorts a contemporary movie critic to an unearthly realm of memory and regret
- In "To Be Horst", a down-and-out passerby, mistaken by a young girl for her blind date, transforms himself into the man for whom he was mistaken
- In "Scenes from the Films of Konkowsky as Recalled by the Executor of his Estate", a director caught in a devastating fire chooses to perish in his film vault along with his creations
- In "The Death of Nu-Nu", an old man, invisible in Greenwich VillageGreenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, grades imperceptibly into death
Berman's stories, nominated for seven Pushcart Prizes, have been named to two special mentions in the Pushcart Prizes and a one in The Best American Short Stories. Major anthologies in which his work is represented include Pow Wow: Charting the Fault Lines in the American Experience, Voices of the Xiled: A Generation Speaks for Itself,'The Male Body, and Sudden Fiction (Continued).
Nonfiction
Berman has also written nonfiction on a wide variety of subjects. With Susanne Lee, he went to Beijing to cover the violent crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
for the Village Voice. His Los Angeles Times Magazine profile of the world chess champions, Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
and Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
, received special mention in the first Best American Sports Writing, edited by David Halberstam
David Halberstam
David Halberstam was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian, known for his early work on the Vietnam War, his work on politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and his later sports journalism.-Early life and education:Halberstam...
and Glenn Stout. With Susanne Lee, he served as co-freelance editor of Children of the Dragon: The Story of Tiananmen Square (essays and photographs from the student movement), reviewed several books on the crackdown, among them one by Harrison Salisbury
Harrison Salisbury
Harrison Evans Salisbury , an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist , was the first regular New York Times correspondent in Moscow after World War II. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
for The Nation, and, for the Los Angeles Times Magazine, profiled jazz drummer Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
. He has also reviewed the works of science fiction authors Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
and Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
for the Los Angeles Times Book Review.
Biography
Born in Los Angeles and raised in Southern California and Eugene, Oregon, Berman was graduated in 1979 from the University of California at Berkeley. Encouraged by Ishmael ReedIshmael Reed
Ishmael Scott Reed is an American poet, essayist, and novelist. A prominent African-American literary figure, Reed is known for his satirical works challenging American political culture, and highlighting political and cultural oppression.Reed has been described as one of the most controversial...
and Russell Banks
Russell Banks
Russell Banks is an American writer of fiction and poetry.- Biography :Russell Banks was born in Newton, Massachusetts on March 28, 1940. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in upstate New York, and has been named a New York State Author. He is also...
, he graduated from the MFA Program in Writing at 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...
in 1991. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
and SUNY Purchase, where he served as the first holder of the Royal and Shirley Durst Chair in Literature.
Publications
- "Billy Moscow and Me", a short story, Descant, Winter 2008
- Sensory Impact, May 2007, by the winners of the 2007 Arts Council Silicon Valley Artists’ Fellowships in Fiction, May 2007 [previously unpublished novel extract anthologized]
- "The Death of Nu-Nu", a short story, TriQuarterlyTriQuarterlyTriQuarterly Online is a not-for-profit American literary magazine published twice a year at Northwestern University that features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, literary essays, reviews, a blog, and graphic art....
, Fall 2000 (special Millennium issue) [two Pushcart Prize nominations] [named one of the "100 Distinguished Short Stories of 2000" in Best American Short Stories 2001, Barbara Kingsolver, ed., Katrina Kenison, series ed.] - "A Walk in the Park", a short story, Southwest ReviewSouthwest ReviewThe Southwest Review is a literary journal published quarterly, based on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. It is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States of America . The current editor-in-chief is Willard Spiegelman.The journal was formerly known as the...
, Fall 1999 - "A Story of Many Titles", a short story, AGNI (magazine)AGNI (magazine)AGNI is an American literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, interviews, and artwork twice a year in print and biweekly online from its home at Boston University...
, Spring 1995; reprinted in Temenos, 2001 - "To These Guys", a short story, Witness (magazine)Witness (magazine)Witness is a literary and issue-oriented magazine published by the Black Mountain Institute at UNLV. Each issue includes fiction, poetry, memoir, and literary essays. The magazine has been honored with ten grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and writings from the journal have been...
, November 1994 [Special Mention, Pushcart Prize XX: 1996: Best of the Small Presses; Pushcart Prize nominee, 1996] - "The Board", a short story, Confrontation, Fall 1994
- "Voice-Over for the Documentary Scenes from the Films of Konkowsky as Recalled by the Executor of his Estate", a short story, Boulevard (magazine)Boulevard (magazine)Boulevard magazine, published by St. Louis University, is an American literary magazine that publishes award-winning prose and poetry. Boulevard has been called "one of the half-dozen best literary journals" by Poet Laureate Daniel Hoffman in The Philadelphia Inquirer.- Overview :Richard Burgin...
, Fall 1994 [Pushcart Prize nominee, 1996] - "The Urbane", a short story, Brooklyn Review, Summer 1994
- "Wabi", a short story, Chicago ReviewChicago ReviewThe Chicago Review is a literary magazine published four times per year in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. It was founded in 1946. Three stories published in the Chicago Review have won the O. Henry Prize...
, Fall 1993 [Pushcart Prize nominee, 1994; anthologized in Voices of the Xiled, a collection by Generation X fiction writers, Doubleday, 1994] - Two haiku, Modern Haiku, June 1994
- "To Be Horst", a short story, Michigan Quarterly ReviewMichigan Quarterly ReviewThe Michigan Quarterly Review is an American literary magazine founded in 1962 and published at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.The quarterly publishes art, essays, interviews, memoirs, fiction, poetry, and book reviews as well as writing "in a wide variety of research areas", according to...
, Fall 1993 [anthologized in Sudden Fiction (Continued)Sudden Fiction (Continued)Sudden Fiction : 60 New Short Stories is a collection of short stories published in 1996. It was compiled and edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas...
, a collection of short-short stories, Robert Shapard and James Thomas, editors, W.W. Norton, 1996 (cloth and paper); also anthologized in The Male Body, a collection of stories, essays and poems, Laurence Goldstein, editor, University of Michigan Press, 1994 (cloth) and 1995 (paper)] - "The Making of The Making of the Illusion of Gravity", a short story, Boulevard (magazine)Boulevard (magazine)Boulevard magazine, published by St. Louis University, is an American literary magazine that publishes award-winning prose and poetry. Boulevard has been called "one of the half-dozen best literary journals" by Poet Laureate Daniel Hoffman in The Philadelphia Inquirer.- Overview :Richard Burgin...
, Summer 1993 - "The Day My Fingers Stopped", a short story, The Antioch Review, Fall 1992
- "The Poorest Boy in Chicago", a short story, Southwest ReviewSouthwest ReviewThe Southwest Review is a literary journal published quarterly, based on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. It is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States of America . The current editor-in-chief is Willard Spiegelman.The journal was formerly known as the...
, Fall 1992 (Special Mention), Pushcart Prize XVIII: 1993-1994: Best of the Small Presses; Pushcart Prize nominee, 1993; anthologized in Powwow: American Short Fiction from Then to Now, 2009, Da Capo/Perseus, hardcover and softcover, Ishmael Reed, Carla Blank, editors - "Malmö", a short story, Boulevard (magazine)Boulevard (magazine)Boulevard magazine, published by St. Louis University, is an American literary magazine that publishes award-winning prose and poetry. Boulevard has been called "one of the half-dozen best literary journals" by Poet Laureate Daniel Hoffman in The Philadelphia Inquirer.- Overview :Richard Burgin...
, Spring 1992 [Pushcart Prize nominee, 1993] - Interview with an Angel, a novella, The Gettysburg ReviewThe Gettysburg ReviewThe Gettysburg Review is a quarterly literary magazine featuring short stories, poetry, essays and reviews. Work appearing in the magazine often is reprinted in "best-of" anthologies and receives awards....
, Winter 1991 - "From Be-Bop to Hip-Hop", a profile of jazz drummer Max Roach, Los Angeles Times MagazineLos Angeles Times MagazineThe Los Angeles Times Magazine is a monthly magazine which supplements the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times newspaper on the first Sunday of the month...
, September 15, 1991 - "Orwell's Bells", an eyewitness account of China's 1989 student movement, ConjunctionsConjunctionsConjunctions, is a biannual American literary journal based at Bard College. It was founded in 1981 and is currently edited by Bradford Morrow....
, May 1991 - "J.P. Morgan Meets Kasparov", an article on chess hustlers in Washington Square Park, Smart magazine, January 1991
- "Enemies: A Chess Story", a profile of world chess champions Kasparov and Karpov, Los Angeles Times MagazineLos Angeles Times MagazineThe Los Angeles Times Magazine is a monthly magazine which supplements the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times newspaper on the first Sunday of the month...
, October 7, 1990 (reprinted, The AgeThe AgeThe Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, Melbourne, Australia, January 1991) [Selected for Notable Sports Writing, The Best American Sports WritingThe Best American Sports WritingThe Best Sports Writing is a yearly anthology of magazine articles on the subject of sports published in the United States. It was started in 1991 as part of The Best American Series published by Houghton Mifflin...
1991, David Halberstam, ed., Glenn Stout, series ed.] - Children of the Dragon: The Story of Tiananmen Square, a collection of eyewitness accounts of and historical essays about the 1989 Chinese student movement, Collier/Macmillan, 1990 [co-editor; several editors]
- "Getting the Story on China", review of five books of nonfiction, Mother Jones (magazine)Mother Jones (magazine)Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, July 1990 - "Is China Still Hopeful?" book review of Mu & Thompson's Crisis at Tiananmen, The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, 1990 - "Very Quiet. Too Quiet", book review of Harrison Salisbury's Tiananmen Diary, The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, October 30, 1989 - "Sweets from Harlan Ellison", book review of Ellison's Angry Candy (short story collection), Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Book Review, 1989 - "Bullets in Beijing", eyewitness account of the crackdown in Tiananmen Square, The Village Voice, June 20, 1989
- "The Bradbury Chronicles", book review of Ray Bradbury's The Toynbee Convector, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Book Review, 1988 - Time Capsule, a novel, Putnam, 1987 (cloth) & Ballantine Books, 1988 (paper) [A New York Times New and Noteworthy Book; nominated by Putnam for the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Pulitzer Prize]
External links
- Mitch Berman Home Page
- “Wabi,” a short story
- “The Poorest Boy in Chicago,” a short story
- “Immoral Woman,” a novella
- “To Be Horst,” flash fiction
- “From Be-Bop to Hip-Hop,” a profile of jazz drummer Max Roach coauthored by Susanne Wah Lee
- “Enemies,” a profile of world chess champions Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov