Norman Rush
Encyclopedia
Norman Rush is an American
novelist whose introspective novels and short stories are set in Botswana
in the 1980s. He is the son of Roger and Leslie (Chesse) Rush. He was the recipient of the 1991 National Book Award
and the 1992 Irish Times
/Aer Lingus
International Fiction Prize for his novel Mating
.
in 1956. After working for fifteen years as a book dealer, he changed careers to become a teacher and found he had more time to write. He submitted a short story about his teaching experiences to The New Yorker
, and it was published in 1978.
Rush and his wife, Elsa, worked as co-workers for the Peace Corps
in Botswana
from 1978 to 1983, which provided material for a collection of short stories he published as Whites in 1986, and for which he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
. His Botswana experience was also used in his first novel, Mating, which won a National Book Award
for fiction in 1991, and in his second novel, Mortals
.
He is married; they live in Rockland County, New York
. He has two grandchildren, Angus Rush and Isis Rush.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist whose introspective novels and short stories are set in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
in the 1980s. He is the son of Roger and Leslie (Chesse) Rush. He was the recipient of the 1991 National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
and the 1992 Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
/Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus Group Plc is the flag carrier of Ireland. It operates a fleet of Airbus aircraft serving Europe and North America. It is Ireland's oldest extant airline, and its second largest after low-cost rival Ryanair...
International Fiction Prize for his novel Mating
Mating (novel)
Mating is a novel by American author Norman Rush. It is a first-person narrative of an unnamed American anthropology graduate student in Botswana around 1980...
.
Life
Rush was born in San Francisco and graduated from Swarthmore CollegeSwarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
in 1956. After working for fifteen years as a book dealer, he changed careers to become a teacher and found he had more time to write. He submitted a short story about his teaching experiences to The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, and it was published in 1978.
Rush and his wife, Elsa, worked as co-workers for the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
from 1978 to 1983, which provided material for a collection of short stories he published as Whites in 1986, and for which he was a finalist for 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...
. His Botswana experience was also used in his first novel, Mating, which won a National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for fiction in 1991, and in his second novel, Mortals
Mortals (novel)
Mortals is the second novel by American author Norman Rush, and was published in 2003. The close third-person narrative follows Ray Finch, an American anthropology CIA agent student in Botswana after the collapse of the Soviet Union...
.
He is married; they live in Rockland County, New York
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
. He has two grandchildren, Angus Rush and Isis Rush.
Published works
- Whites, Knopf, 1986, ISBN 9780394544717 - Nominated for the Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe 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...
for fiction - MatingMating (novel)Mating is a novel by American author Norman Rush. It is a first-person narrative of an unnamed American anthropology graduate student in Botswana around 1980...
A.A. Knopf, 1991, ISBN 9780394544724 - National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book... - Mortals Alfred A. Knopf, 2003, ISBN 9780679406228
of Mating
Mr. Rush has created one of the wiser and wittier fictive meditations on the subject of mating. His novel illuminates why we yield when we don't have to. It seeks to illuminate the nature of true intimacy -- how to define it, how to know when one has achieved it. And few books evoke so eloquently that state of love at its apogee -- or, as the protagonist puts it, the way in the state of passion one feels oneself the "pale affiliate" of the storm, "acted on at some constitutive and possibly electrical level," the way one feels the intensity of the nourishment derived and that sense of a great sweetness to everything, that sense between lovers of surmounting all, seeming "to coast over everything, up and over, a good thickness of rushing water between us and the boulders underneath."
I had just about given up on finding answers -- any answers -- when I read "Mating," and the experience didn't convince me to do otherwise. But what it did do was remind me that I was still interested in the questions, and I have yet to read another novel that has raised more relevant ones.
External links
- Keillor, Garrison. Writer's Almanac. October 24, 2006.