Craig Clevenger

Craig Clevenger
Born	1964 Dallas, Texas
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	United States
Period	2002–present
Genres	Transgressional fiction, neo-noir
Notable work(s)	The Contortionist's Handbook, Dermaphoria
Influences Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson, Italo Calvino, Kobo Abe, Steve Erickson, Mark Danielewski, Will Christopher Baer, Seth Morgan, James Ellroy, Michael Hogan, John O'Brien, Michael Ventura, Rupert Thomson
craigclevenger.com

Craig Clevenger is an American author of contemporary fiction. Born 1964 in Dallas, Texas, he grew up in Southern California where he studied English at California State University, Long Beach. He is the author of two novels, The Contortionist's Handbook and Dermaphoria, both released by MacAdam/Cage. His work has been classified by some as neo-noir and has received praise from such authors as Chuck Palahniuk and Irvine Welsh.

Clevenger lists among his influences Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson, Italo Calvino, Kōbō Abe, Steve Erickson, Mark Danielewski, Will Christopher Baer, Seth Morgan, James Ellroy, Michael Hogan, John O'Brien, Michael Ventura and Rupert Thomson.

Currently living in San Francisco, Clevenger is at work on an untitled third novel based on his short story The Fade.

He shares a fan base with fellow authors Will Christopher Baer and Stephen Graham Jones.

Novels

The Contortionist's Handbook

Clevenger's debut novel, The Contortionist's Handbook, was first published in 2002. It is the story of John Dolan Vincent, a prodigious forger who has been detained for a psychiatric interview following a near-fatal painkiller overdose. As the narrator bluffs his way through the interview in order to avoid being involuntarily institutionalized, he tells the reader his true story - the one he is not telling the psychiatrist - revealing both his past and the true nature of his circumstances. The Contortionist's Handbook has since been translated into five languages - German, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese - as well as published in the United Kingdom by HarperCollins. Several other translations are forthcoming, including Russian and Japanese. Film rights for The Contortionist's Handbook were optioned in 2007 by Greenestreet Films. Miguel Sapochnik has been linked as director and Channing Tatum as producer and star.

Dermaphoria

In 2005, MacAdam/Cage released Clevenger's second novel, Dermaphoria, the diary of an amnesiac LSD chemist who becomes addicted to a drug which synthesizes the feeling of human touch. The film rights to Dermaphoria were optioned in October 2006 by independent producers George Griffith, Ross Clarke and Teryn Fogel.

Sources

• MacAdam/Cage bio for Craig Clevenger
• Transcript of Chuck Palahniuk's Audio Blog Monday, Aug. 18, 2003
• "Tied Up in Knots," Irvine Welsh for "The Guardian," Apr. 16, 2005
• "Greenestreet Books Deal" Variety.com May 2007

Bibliography

The Contortionist's Handbook

• Hardcover, 2002; ISBN 1-931561-15-X
• Trade Paper, 2003; ISBN 1-931561-48-6

Dermaphoria

• Hardcover, 2005; ISBN 1-931561-75-3
• Trade Paper, 2006; ISBN 1-931561-75-3

External links

Official sites

• Official site of Craig Clevenger
• The Velvet The official online community of Craig Clevenger, Will Christopher Baer and Stephen Graham Jones

Interviews

• Curled Up
• MookyCh!ck
• Movie Poopshoot 1
• Movie Poopshoot 2
• Professor Barnhardt's Journal 1
• Professor Barnhardt's Journal 2
• TastesLikeChicken
• Suicide Girls I
• Suicide Girls II

Audio

• KQED's "The Writer's Block
• Craig Clevenger reading from Dermaphoria at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn while on tour in October, 2005
• Misnomer Radio's Logan Rapp interviews Craig Clevenger.

Persondata
Name	Clevenger, Craig
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1964
Place of birth	Dallas, Texas
Date of death
Place of death