Daphne Merkin

Daphne Miriam Merkin (born 30 May 1954 in New York City) is a literary critic, essayist and novelist. Merkin is a graduate of Barnard College. She also attended Columbia University's graduate program in English literature.^[1]

She began her career as a book critic for Commentary magazine,^[1] The New Republic, and The New Leader, where she wrote a book column and later, a movie column.^[1] In 1986, she became an editor with the publishing house of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. In 1997, after Tina Brown became editor of The New Yorker, Merkin became a film critic for the magazine. She also wrote extensively on books and became known for her frank and lyrical forays into autobiography; her personal essays tackled subjects ranging from her battle with depression, to her predilection for spanking,^[2] to the unacknowledged complexities of growing up rich on Park Avenue. In 2005, she joined The New York Times Magazine as a contributing writer. She is the author of a novel, Enchantment (1984)^[1] as well as a collection of essays, Dreaming of Hitler (1997).^[3]

Her father was the wealthy philanthropist Hermann Merkin. Her brother is J. Ezra Merkin, a hedge fund manager and philanthropist who was embroiled in the Bernard Madoff scandal.^[4]

Merkin teaches writing at the 92nd Street Y.^[5] She married and divorced Michael Brod, and lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with her daughter, Zoe. She also is a contributing editor to Tablet Magazine.^[6]

See also

• Hermann Merkin
• Ursula Merkin
• J. Ezra Merkin

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Joel Shatzky, Michael Taub (1997). Contemporary Jewish-American novelists: a bio-critical sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 216–222. http://books.google.com/books?id=Q90NYXytQaUC&pg=PA218&lpg=PA218&dq=Daphne+Merkin+1954&source=bl&ots=zZrlx2asFG&sig=FoGyLPWZ8zN32xhBmnR3tR7NAVQ&hl=en&ei=jPhETPn0CofGsAPr2NGCDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Daphne%20Merkin%201954&f=false. Retrieved 2010-07-19. 
2. ^ Daphne Merkin, (February 26, 1996). "Unlikely Obsession". The New Yorker: p. 98. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1996/02/26/1996_02_26_098_TNY_CARDS_000373793#ixzz0uBGfQylw. Retrieved 2010-07-19. 
3. ^ "Sneak Peeks: Dreaming of Hitler," Salon, June 10, 1997
4. ^ "Behind a Byline, Family Ties," New York Times, April 11, 2009
5. ^ "A Voice of One's Own ," 92y.org
6. ^ Tablet Magazine

External links

• Private Drama by Merkin at Tablet Magazine
• Merkin, Daphne. "The Suburbanization of Mike Tyson," New York Times Magazine, March 15, 2010
• "Getting Candid With Daphne Merkin," West Side Spirit, May 20, 2010

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Name	Merkin, Daphney
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Date of birth	May 30, 1954
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