Stanley Kauffmann
Encyclopedia
Stanley Kauffmann is an American
author
, editor
, and critic
of film
and theatre
. He has written for The New Republic
since 1958 and currently contributes film criticism to that magazine.
Stanley Kauffmann is featured in the 2009 documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
where he is shown discussing the beginnings of film criticism in America, and noting the important contributions of poet Vachel Lindsay
, who was able to grasp that "the arrival of film was an important moment in the history of human consciousness."
While working as an editor at Alfred A. Knopf
in 1959 he discovered a manuscript by Walker Percy
entitled The Moviegoer
. After a year of rewrites and revisions, the novel was published in 1961, and went on to win a National Book Award
in 1962.
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:...
, editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
, and critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
of film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
. He has written for The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
since 1958 and currently contributes film criticism to that magazine.
Stanley Kauffmann is featured in the 2009 documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism is a 2009 documentary film dramatizing a hundred years of American film criticism through film clips, historic photographs, and on-camera interviews with many of today’s important reviewers, mostly print but also Internet...
where he is shown discussing the beginnings of film criticism in America, and noting the important contributions of poet Vachel Lindsay
Vachel Lindsay
Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. He is considered the father of modern singing poetry, as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted...
, who was able to grasp that "the arrival of film was an important moment in the history of human consciousness."
While working as an editor at Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
in 1959 he discovered a manuscript by Walker Percy
Walker Percy
Walker Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962...
entitled The Moviegoer
The Moviegoer
The Moviegoer is the debut novel by Walker Percy published in 1961. It won a National Book Award in 1962. Time magazine included the novel in its "Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005"....
. After a year of rewrites and revisions, the novel was published in 1961, and went on to win 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...
in 1962.
Books on criticism
- Regarding Film: Criticism and Comment. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, (2001).
- Distinguishing Features: Film Criticism and Comment. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, (1994).
- Field of View: Film Criticism and Comment. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications, (1986).
- Theater Criticisms. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications, (1986).
- Albums of Early Life. New Haven: Ticknor & Fields, (1980).
- Before My Eyes: Film Criticism and Comment. New York: Harper & Row, (1980).
- Persons of the Drama: Theater Criticism and Comment. New York: Harper & Row, (1976).
- Living Images: Film Comment and Criticism. New York: Harper & Row, (1975).
- American Film Criticism: From the Beginnings to "Citizen Kane"; Reviews of Significant Films at the Time They First Appeared [Editor, with Bruce Henstell]. New York: Liveright, (1972).
- Figures of Light: Film Criticism and Comment. New York: Harper & Row, (1971).
- A World on Film: Criticism and Comment. New York: Harper & Row, (1966).