Robert Clark Young
Encyclopedia
Robert Clark Young is an American
author
of novel
s, essay
s, short stories
and journalism
. Recurring themes in Young's fiction
include the relation between alcoholism
, the abuse of power, and institutional dysfunction in American life, while his nonfiction has recently focused on eldercare topics. Young has been involved in several high-profile issues through the fiction and journalistic articles he has written.
and San Diego and won fellowships to study writing at the University of San Diego
; the University of California, Davis
, where he studied with Beat Generation
author Gary Snyder
; and the University of Houston
, in the doctoral Creative Writing Program founded by postmodern satirist Donald Barthelme
. The Creative Writing Program at UC Davis awards a Master's degree that is equivalent to an M.F.A. Young's first teaching job, when he was 25, was as a civilian working on U.S. Navy ships deployed throughout the Far East
. This experience would form the basis for his first novel, One of the Guys
, published by HarperCollins
in 1999.
When not writing, Young has been active in the anti-Iraq-war
movement and was arrested twice in 2003 for nonviolent protest
of the Iraq War.
for both his parents since 2008 and writes an eldercare column for the Davis Enterprise that is syndicated by Yahoo News. The column focuses on the daily aspects of eldercare, such as how to feed infirm elders, how to bathe them, how to do wheelchair transfers to and from beds and cars, and how to prepare and dispense medications, as well as the emotional aspects of family life during caregiving. Each column is excerpted from a book called The Eldercare Survival Kit: How to Care for Your Aging Parents, While Enriching Your Own Life.
is a satire
about a man impersonating a U.S. Navy chaplain
on a ship that suffers a series of comic misadventures in the Far East. The novel gained notoriety shortly after publication when the American Family Association
objected to Young's portrayal of a man posing as a Christian
chaplain during deployment to ports where an alcoholic crew avails itself of child prostitution. The AFA, which had previously used the work of artists to attack the funding practices of the National Endowment for the Arts
, lobbied the U.S. Congress to have the agency defunded.
Young responded, in The Washington Post
and elsewhere, that the controversial sections of One of the Guys
were not pornographic, but had been written to expose what he saw as the U.S. Navy's complicity in child prostitution overseas. He perceived an inconsistency in the AFA objecting to taxpayer funding of a book that exposed and criticized sexual exploitation, when the AFA could have been objecting to taxpayer funding of the exploitation itself.
One of the Guys
was subsequently nominated for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
, which recognizes authors who have stood up to censorship
in the United States.
In May, 2001 Young published an article in the San Francisco Chronicle
that accused novelist Melany Neilson
of plagiarizing, in The Persia Cafe, significant portions of verbatim text from the novel The Bean Trees
by Barbara Kingsolver
. Young criticized Neilson's publisher, St. Martin's Press
, for refusing to pull copies of The Persia Cafe from stores. Young placed his argument within the context of the concurrent litigation between Alice Randall
and the estate of Margaret Mitchell
, author of Gone with the Wind
. He argued that Randall's book, The Wind Done Gone
, was not in fact an instance of plagiarism
, because Randall's intent was humorous and parodic, and therefore deserving of First Amendment
protection, while Neilson's borrowing from Kingsolver involved verbatim text without parodic intent, thus Neilson's borrowing was not protected. Randall's attorneys cited Young's opinion piece among the evidence in favor of Randall, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated an injunction
against publishing the book in Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin
.
about Brad Vice
, a short-story writer whose first collection, The Bear Bryant Funeral Train, won the 2005 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
from the University of Georgia Press
. Vice's collection was later pulled from the shelves and destroyed by his publisher, based on an allegation of plagiarism. Young's article summarized the plagiarism case against Vice while also claiming to discover an additional plagiarism charge against Vice. Young was the first to discover and report that Vice's "Tuscaloosa Knights" story appears not only in the pulped book, but also in Vice's 2001 University of Cincinnati
dissertation draft of The Bear Bryant Funeral Train. Young's article stimulated a great deal of Internet
discussion and was cited by a number of blog
s and a newspaper in Japan. Several independent bloggers agreed with Young that Vice had committed plagiarism.
, and won the Black Warrior Review’s Best of the 1990s Nonfiction Award in 2002.
Young continued to write and publish in the wake of the One of the Guys
controversy. He began work on a multi-volume historical novel based on the half-century of conflict between the alcoholic pro-German newspaper publisher Cissy Patterson
and her daughter, the Countess Felicia Gizycka, who was one of the founding female members of Alcoholics Anonymous
.
, May 1999 (hardcover), September 2000 (trade paperback).
Philip of the Streets (creative nonfiction, excerpt from Thank You for Keeping Me Sober), Connotation Press (February 2010)
Running Away from Big Guy (creative nonfiction, excerpt from Thank You for Keeping Me Sober), The Espresso: San Diego’s Coffeehouse & Café Newspaper (December 24, 2009)
The Ecstasy of the Do-It-Yourself Novel (review of the novel Burn & Learn: Memoirs of the Cenozoic Era, by Eric Paul Shaffer), Connotation Press (November 2009)
The Death of the Death of the Novel (creative nonfiction), The Southern Review, Louisiana State University
(Winter 2008)
“A Taste of California,” (food article), Senses Magazine (October 2007)
“The Death of the Cool,” (creative nonfiction), Senses Magazine (September 2007)
“Elk Hunt, Wyoming, 1917,” (creative nonfiction), Owen Wister Review
, University of Wyoming
(Spring 2006)
A Charming Plagiarist: The Downfall of Brad Vice (literary essay), New York Press
(November 30, 2005)
An Experiment in Pleasure (review of the novel A Gesture through Time by Elizabeth Block), The Brooklyn Rail
(September 2005)
“The Richest Girl in the World,” (creative nonfiction), Southern Humanities Review
, Auburn University
(Spring 2005)
“Mimi and Cecilia: A Recollection,” (creative nonfiction), Santa Monica Review, Santa Monica College
(Spring 2003)
“On Being Published in the Black Warrior Review,” (literary essay), Black Warrior Review
, University of Alabama
(Fall 2002)
Scarlett O'Hara, Incorporated (op-ed), San Francisco Chronicle
(May 18, 2001)
"Ask, Tell, and Prosecute: Navy and Marine Complicity in Thailand's Child Sex Trade Shouldn't Be Tolerated” (op-ed), The Portland Oregonian (December 26, 2000)
A Strange ‘Family Values’ Attack on the NEA The Washington Post
(December 15, 2000)
“Peacock Island” (excerpt from the novel One of the Guys
), New Millennium Writings
(Spring 1997)
“Empire of Words” (excerpt from the novel One of the Guys
), Another Chicago Magazine (Spring 1997)
“The Final Exit of Xavier Jones” (short story), Gulf Coast A Journal of Literature and Fine Art, University of Houston
(Spring-Summer 1997)
“Bus from Oaxaca” (personal essay, first prize), New Millennium Writings
(Fall 1996)
“The Girl in the White Corvair” (personal essay), West Branch
, Bucknell University
(Fall 1994)
“Impurity” (personal essay) in Bless Me, Father: Stories of Catholic Childhood anthology
, New York
: Penguin Books
, 1994. Reprinted from Pikestaff Forum (Spring 1994)
“Armentrout” (short story), New Orleans Review, Loyola University New Orleans
(Winter 1993)
“Litmag Chain Letter” (literary essay), ZYZZYVA
(Summer 1993)
“One Writer’s Big Innings” (literary essay), The Writer's Chronicle
, Association of Writers & Writing Programs
(December 1992) Reprinted from Black Warrior Review
, University of Alabama
(Fall 1992)
“Ten Years Later, New World Order Is Not Quite What U.S. Thought”
(op-ed), Houston Post
(April 17, 1991)
“After an Assassination in the Philippines” (short story), Buffalo Press (January-February 1991)
“Green River” (short story), The Davis Enterprise (December 17, 1987)
“It’s Greek to Me” (celebrity profile), San Diego Magazine
(October 1982)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s, short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
. Recurring themes in Young's fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
include the relation between alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, the abuse of power, and institutional dysfunction in American life, while his nonfiction has recently focused on eldercare topics. Young has been involved in several high-profile issues through the fiction and journalistic articles he has written.
Young's life
Born in Hollywood, California, Young was raised in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Diego and won fellowships to study writing at the University of San Diego
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego is a Roman Catholic university in San Diego, California. USD offers more than sixty bachelor's, master’s, and doctoral programs...
; the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
, where he studied with Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
author Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
; and the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
, in the doctoral Creative Writing Program founded by postmodern satirist Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme was an American author known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, managing editor of Location magazine, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston , co-founder of Fiction Donald...
. The Creative Writing Program at UC Davis awards a Master's degree that is equivalent to an M.F.A. Young's first teaching job, when he was 25, was as a civilian working on U.S. Navy ships deployed throughout the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
. This experience would form the basis for his first novel, One of the Guys
One of the Guys
One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S...
, published by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in 1999.
When not writing, Young has been active in the anti-Iraq-war
Opposition to the Iraq War
Significant opposition to the Iraq War occurred worldwide, both before and during the initial 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States, United Kingdom, and smaller contingents from other nations, and throughout the subsequent occupation...
movement and was arrested twice in 2003 for nonviolent protest
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
of the Iraq War.
Eldercare
Young has been a caregiverCaregiver
Caregiver may refer to:* Caregiver or carer - an unpaid person who cares for someone requiring support due to a disability, frailty, mental health problem, learning disability or old age...
for both his parents since 2008 and writes an eldercare column for the Davis Enterprise that is syndicated by Yahoo News. The column focuses on the daily aspects of eldercare, such as how to feed infirm elders, how to bathe them, how to do wheelchair transfers to and from beds and cars, and how to prepare and dispense medications, as well as the emotional aspects of family life during caregiving. Each column is excerpted from a book called The Eldercare Survival Kit: How to Care for Your Aging Parents, While Enriching Your Own Life.
Controversy over One of the Guys
One of the GuysOne of the Guys
One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S...
is a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
about a man impersonating a U.S. Navy chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
on a ship that suffers a series of comic misadventures in the Far East. The novel gained notoriety shortly after publication when the American Family Association
American Family Association
The American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
objected to Young's portrayal of a man posing as a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
chaplain during deployment to ports where an alcoholic crew avails itself of child prostitution. The AFA, which had previously used the work of artists to attack the funding practices of the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, lobbied the U.S. Congress to have the agency defunded.
Young responded, in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and elsewhere, that the controversial sections of One of the Guys
One of the Guys
One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S...
were not pornographic, but had been written to expose what he saw as the U.S. Navy's complicity in child prostitution overseas. He perceived an inconsistency in the AFA objecting to taxpayer funding of a book that exposed and criticized sexual exploitation, when the AFA could have been objecting to taxpayer funding of the exploitation itself.
One of the Guys
One of the Guys
One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S...
was subsequently nominated for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
The PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award was presented each spring to a U.S. resident who has fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word. Sponsored by PEN American Center and Newman's Own, a cash prize...
, which recognizes authors who have stood up to censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
in the United States.
The Neilson/Kingsolver and Wind Done Gone Controversies
Literature isn't a profession. It's a dysfunctional relationship with paper products. Robert Clark Young, "One Writer's Big Innings" |
In May, 2001 Young published an article in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
that accused novelist Melany Neilson
Melany Neilson
Melany Neilson is an American author. She grew up in Ebenezer, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in English in 1979, and a Masters degree in journalism in 1986....
of plagiarizing, in The Persia Cafe, significant portions of verbatim text from the novel The Bean Trees
The Bean Trees
The Bean Trees, first published in 1988, is the first book written by Barbara Kingsolver, followed by a sequel Pigs in Heaven. The protagonist of the novel, Taylor Greer, a native of Kentucky, finds herself in Oklahoma near Cherokee territory. The novel begins with a woman leaving an American...
by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
. Young criticized Neilson's publisher, St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
, for refusing to pull copies of The Persia Cafe from stores. Young placed his argument within the context of the concurrent litigation between Alice Randall
Alice Randall
Alice Randall is an American author and songwriter. Randall grew up in Washington, D.C.. She attended Harvard University, where she earned an honors degree in English and American literature, before moving to Nashville in 1983 to become a country songwriter. She currently lives in Nashville,...
and the estate of Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
, author of Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
. He argued that Randall's book, The Wind Done Gone
The Wind Done Gone
The Wind Done Gone is the first novel written by Alice Randall. It was a bestselling historical parallel novel that reinterprets the famous American novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.- Plot summary :...
, was not in fact an instance of plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
, because Randall's intent was humorous and parodic, and therefore deserving of First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
protection, while Neilson's borrowing from Kingsolver involved verbatim text without parodic intent, thus Neilson's borrowing was not protected. Randall's attorneys cited Young's opinion piece among the evidence in favor of Randall, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against publishing the book in Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin
Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin
Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin Co., 252 F. 3d 1165 , opinion at 268 F.3d 1257, was a case decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit against the owner of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, vacating an injunction prohibiting the publisher of Alice Randall's The Wind...
.
Article about Brad Vice
Young also wrote a much-publicized article in the New York PressNew York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
about Brad Vice
Brad Vice
Brad Vice is a fiction writer whose short story collection, The Bear Bryant Funeral Train, won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction from the University of Georgia Press...
, a short-story writer whose first collection, The Bear Bryant Funeral Train, won the 2005 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
The Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction is an annual prize awarded by the University of Georgia Press named in honor of the American short story writer and novelist Flannery O'Connor....
from the University of Georgia Press
University of Georgia Press
The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is a publishing house and is a member of the Association of American University Presses.Founded in 1938, the UGA Press is a division of the University of Georgia and is located on the campus in Athens, Georgia, USA...
. Vice's collection was later pulled from the shelves and destroyed by his publisher, based on an allegation of plagiarism. Young's article summarized the plagiarism case against Vice while also claiming to discover an additional plagiarism charge against Vice. Young was the first to discover and report that Vice's "Tuscaloosa Knights" story appears not only in the pulped book, but also in Vice's 2001 University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
dissertation draft of The Bear Bryant Funeral Train. Young's article stimulated a great deal of Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
discussion and was cited by a number of blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s and a newspaper in Japan. Several independent bloggers agreed with Young that Vice had committed plagiarism.
Young's other writings
Young's essay One Writer’s Big Innings, a comic look at the struggles of a young writer, was reprinted in AWP Chronicle, nominated for a Pushcart PrizePushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
, and won the Black Warrior Review’s Best of the 1990s Nonfiction Award in 2002.
Young continued to write and publish in the wake of the One of the Guys
One of the Guys
One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S...
controversy. He began work on a multi-volume historical novel based on the half-century of conflict between the alcoholic pro-German newspaper publisher Cissy Patterson
Cissy Patterson
Eleanor Josephine Medill "Cissy" Patterson was an American journalist and newspaper editor, publisher and owner...
and her daughter, the Countess Felicia Gizycka, who was one of the founding female members of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
.
Selected bibliography
One of the Guys HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, May 1999 (hardcover), September 2000 (trade paperback).
Philip of the Streets (creative nonfiction, excerpt from Thank You for Keeping Me Sober), Connotation Press (February 2010)
Running Away from Big Guy (creative nonfiction, excerpt from Thank You for Keeping Me Sober), The Espresso: San Diego’s Coffeehouse & Café Newspaper (December 24, 2009)
The Ecstasy of the Do-It-Yourself Novel (review of the novel Burn & Learn: Memoirs of the Cenozoic Era, by Eric Paul Shaffer), Connotation Press (November 2009)
The Death of the Death of the Novel (creative nonfiction), The Southern Review, Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
(Winter 2008)
“A Taste of California,” (food article), Senses Magazine (October 2007)
“The Death of the Cool,” (creative nonfiction), Senses Magazine (September 2007)
“Elk Hunt, Wyoming, 1917,” (creative nonfiction), Owen Wister Review
Owen Wister Review
The Owen Wister Review is the University of Wyoming’s annual art and literature journal produced through the Student Media department that publishes creative non-fiction, poetry, fiction, and art. The editorial staff is made up entirely undergraduate and graduate students...
, University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
(Spring 2006)
A Charming Plagiarist: The Downfall of Brad Vice (literary essay), New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
(November 30, 2005)
An Experiment in Pleasure (review of the novel A Gesture through Time by Elizabeth Block), The Brooklyn Rail
The Brooklyn Rail
The Brooklyn Rail is a political, artistic and literary magazine based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Coverage includes political andliterary essays, art criticism, interviews, original fiction and poetry, and reviews....
(September 2005)
“The Richest Girl in the World,” (creative nonfiction), Southern Humanities Review
Southern humanities review
The Southern Humanities Review is a quarterly literary journal published by Auburn University . The current editors are Dan Latimer and Chantel Acevedo. It publishes fiction, poetry, critical essays, and book reviews on the arts, literature, philosophy, religion, and history...
, Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
(Spring 2005)
“Mimi and Cecilia: A Recollection,” (creative nonfiction), Santa Monica Review, Santa Monica College
Santa Monica College
Santa Monica College is a two-year, public, junior college located in Santa Monica, California.Santa Monica College was first opened in 1929 as Santa Monica Junior College. Current enrollment is over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study...
(Spring 2003)
“On Being Published in the Black Warrior Review,” (literary essay), Black Warrior Review
Black Warrior Review
The Black Warrior Review is an American literary magazine founded in 1974 and based at the University of Alabama. Work appearing in BWR has been anthologized in the Pushcart Prize collection, The Best American Short Stories , Best American Poetry, New Stories from the South. The Spring 1978 issue...
, University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
(Fall 2002)
Scarlett O'Hara, Incorporated (op-ed), San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
(May 18, 2001)
"Ask, Tell, and Prosecute: Navy and Marine Complicity in Thailand's Child Sex Trade Shouldn't Be Tolerated” (op-ed), The Portland Oregonian (December 26, 2000)
A Strange ‘Family Values’ Attack on the NEA The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
(December 15, 2000)
“Peacock Island” (excerpt from the novel One of the Guys
One of the Guys
One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S...
), New Millennium Writings
New Millennium Writings
New Millennium Writings is an American literary magazine published in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1996 by Don Williams, a prize-winning journalist and fiction writer who currently serves as editor. The magazine carries fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction by up-and-coming writers...
(Spring 1997)
“Empire of Words” (excerpt from the novel One of the Guys
One of the Guys
One of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S...
), Another Chicago Magazine (Spring 1997)
“The Final Exit of Xavier Jones” (short story), Gulf Coast A Journal of Literature and Fine Art, University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
(Spring-Summer 1997)
“Bus from Oaxaca” (personal essay, first prize), New Millennium Writings
New Millennium Writings
New Millennium Writings is an American literary magazine published in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1996 by Don Williams, a prize-winning journalist and fiction writer who currently serves as editor. The magazine carries fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction by up-and-coming writers...
(Fall 1996)
“The Girl in the White Corvair” (personal essay), West Branch
West Branch (journal)
West Branch is an American literary magazine based at Bucknell University and published by the Stadler Center for Poetry. It was established in 1977 and publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and literary criticism. The editor-in-chief is G.C. Waldrep, a former editor of the Kenyon Review...
, Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
(Fall 1994)
“Impurity” (personal essay) in Bless Me, Father: Stories of Catholic Childhood anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
, 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...
: Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, 1994. Reprinted from Pikestaff Forum (Spring 1994)
“Armentrout” (short story), New Orleans Review, Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
(Winter 1993)
“Litmag Chain Letter” (literary essay), ZYZZYVA
Zyzzyva (magazine)
Zyzzyva is a triannual magazine of writers and artists. It places an emphasis on showcasing emerging voices and never before published writers in addition to the already established. Based in San Francisco, it began publishing in 1985. ZYZZYVAs slogan is "The Last Word," referring to "zyzzyva", the...
(Summer 1993)
“One Writer’s Big Innings” (literary essay), The Writer's Chronicle
The Writer's Chronicle
The Writer's Chronicle is a journal published 6 times each year. It is the flagship publication of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs....
, Association of Writers & Writing Programs
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs is a literary organization whose mission is "to foster literary talent and achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing."-Members:AWP...
(December 1992) Reprinted from Black Warrior Review
Black Warrior Review
The Black Warrior Review is an American literary magazine founded in 1974 and based at the University of Alabama. Work appearing in BWR has been anthologized in the Pushcart Prize collection, The Best American Short Stories , Best American Poetry, New Stories from the South. The Spring 1978 issue...
, University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
(Fall 1992)
“Ten Years Later, New World Order Is Not Quite What U.S. Thought”
(op-ed), Houston Post
Houston Post
The Houston Post was a newspaper that had its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1995, the newspaper was absorbed into the Houston Chronicle.-History:The newspaper was established on February 19, 1880, by Gail Borden Johnson...
(April 17, 1991)
“After an Assassination in the Philippines” (short story), Buffalo Press (January-February 1991)
“Green River” (short story), The Davis Enterprise (December 17, 1987)
“It’s Greek to Me” (celebrity profile), San Diego Magazine
San Diego Magazine
San Diego Magazine is a monthly publication concerning life in the San Diego region. This is the city’s longest running lifestyle publication and has continued to prosper and evolve throughout its 60-year history...
(October 1982)
External links
- Collier, Gene, NEA Foes Miss Boat on Satire, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, October 25, 2000
- Garvin, Cosmo Moral Minority, Sacramento News and Review, March 1, 2001
- Hansen, Suzy, Our Wolves in Uniform Salon.com, March 22, 2001
- McInerney, Tom, NEA Funding up Despite Criticism Poets and Writers Magazine, January 2001
- Quinn, Brad, In the Navy Cincinnati CityBeat, November 16, 2000
- Sherwin, Elisabeth, First Amendment Sweethearts, Bob and Isabel, Davis Enterprise, October 15, 2000
- Sherwin, Elisabeth, Meet Countess Felicia, The Richest Girl in the World, Davis Enterprise, August 1, 2005
- Young, Robert Clark, A Strange 'Family Values' Attack on the NEA Washington Post, December 15, 2000
- Young, Robert Clark, Mimi and Cecilia: A Recollection Santa Monica Review, Spring, 2003
- Young, Robert Clark, One Writer’s Big Innings Black Warrior Review, Fall, 1992.