Leonard Michaels

Leonard Michaels

Leonard Michaels (January 2, 1933- May 10, 2003) was an American writer of short stories, novels, and essays. He was born in New York City to Jewish parents; his father was born in Poland. He went to college and earned his B.A. from New York University and went on to acquire a M.A. as well as a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Michigan, before spending most of his adult life in Berkeley, California. "Going Places", his first book of short stories, made his reputation as one of the most brilliant of that era's fiction writers; the stories are urban, funny, and written in a private, hectic diction that gives them a remarkable edge. The follow-up, coming six years later (Michaels was perhaps not prolific enough to build a widely popular career), was "I Would Have Saved Them If I Could", a collection as strong as the first.

"The Men's Club", Michaels' first novel, is a story-like, relatively short comedic work that simultaneously attacks and celebrates the absurdities of men as they gather in a kind of urban support group. In 1986, the novel was made into a popular film, directed by Peter Medak, with the screenplay by Michaels, and starring Roy Scheider, Harvey Keitel, Stockard Channing and Frank Langella.

"Sylvia" is a fictionalized memoir of Michael's first wife, Sylvia Bloch, who committed suicide.

Michaels was a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley.

His son Jesse Michaels was the vocalist in the seminal underground punk rock band Operation Ivy.

elected publications

* "Going Places" (, ISBN 0-374-16496-7)
* "I Would Have Saved Them If I Could" (, ISBN 0-374-17411-3)
* "The Men's Club" (, ISBN 0-374-20782-8) (filmed in 1986)
* "Shuffle" (, ISBN 0-374-26349-3)
* "Sylvia" (, ISBN 1-56279-029-3)
* "Time Out of Mind" (, ISBN 1-57322-819-2)
* "A Girl With a Monkey: New and Selected Stories" (, ISBN 1-56279-120-6)
* "The Collected Stories " (, ISBN 0-37412-654-2)

External links

* [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070709/lopate The Improbable Moralist] Both an appreciation of his art and review of "The Collected Stories" by Phillip Lopate; published in The Nation on-line June 21, 2007 (July 9, 2007 issue)
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/01/RVGLQQJD1G1.DTL&type=books "Leonard Michaels -- let us not forget him"] review of "The Collected Stories", by Paul Wilner. This piece appeared July 1, 2007 at [http://www.sfgate.com/ SF Gate.com] . The review also extends into a backlog of reflection about Michaels' "Sylvia" and an essay on Michaels' called "Difficult Friends" in Wendy Lesser's "Room For Doubt".
* [http://brooklynrail.org/2007/7/books/to-live-in-a-culture To Live in a Culture: Leonard Michaels' "Sylvia" and "The Collected Stories"] piece by Nora Griffin at [http://brooklynrail.org/ The Brooklyn Rail]
* [http://harpers.org/archive/2007/06/hbc-90000369 Interview: Wyatt Mason on Leonard Michaels] at [http://www.harpers.org Harper's]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Leonard Michaels — (2 janvier 1933 10 mai 2003) était un auteur de nouvelles américain né à New York. Son livre Sylvia est un récit autobiographique dans le Brooklyn des années soixante, un témoignage sur son amour passionnel écrit plus de vingt …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Michaels — ist ein patronymisch gebildeter Familienname mit der Bedeutung „Sohn des Michael“. Bekannte Namensträger Al Michaels (* 1944), US amerikanischer Sportreporter Amber Michaels (* 1968), US amerikanische Pornodarstellerin Anne Michaels (* 1958),… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Michaels (name) — For other uses, see Michaels (disambiguation). Michaels Family name Pronunciation English: /ˈmaɪkəlz/ my kəlz …   Wikipedia

  • Michaels, Leonard — ▪ 2004       American writer (b. Jan. 2, 1933, New York, N.Y. d. May 10, 2003, Berkeley, Calif.), penned literary short stories and novels that often featured ordinary people in bizarre situations. His best known work, The Men s Club (1981;… …   Universalium

  • Leonard Soosay — Infobox musical artist Name = Leonard Soosay Img capt = Wayne Thunder Seah Leonard Soosay (Left to right) Birth name = Leonard Soosay Alias = Towkay Origin = Singapore Occupation = Music producer/Producer/CreativeDirector/Sound Engineer URL =… …   Wikipedia

  • Jesse Michaels — Born April 2, 1969 (1969 04 02) (age 42) Berkeley, California Genres punk rock, ska punk, hardcore punk, reggae Occupations Singer, son …   Wikipedia

  • Jesse Michaels — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Michaels. Jesse Michaels (2 avril 1969 à Berkeley) est un compositeur de chansons et un guitariste américain originaire de Berkeley en Californie, fils de l écrivain Leonard Michaels. Il a joué avec le groupe ska …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mike Leonard (journalist) — Michael Mike Leonard (born November 30, 1947) is an American television journalist presently working for The Today Show on NBC. Leonard has been a feature correspondent for the Today Show for 31 years, and is known for his stories on everyday… …   Wikipedia

  • literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …   Universalium

  • Marc Prensky — (born March 15, 1946 in New York City) is an American writer and speaker on learning and education. He is best known as the inventor and popularizer of the terms digital native and digital immigrant [1] which he d …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”