Roger Shattuck

Roger Shattuck (born August 20, 1923 in Manhattan, New York- died December 8, 2005 in Lincoln, Vermont) was an American writer best known for his books on French literature, art, and music of the twentieth century. Born in New York to parents Howard Francis Shattuck, a physician, and Elizabeth (Colt) Shattuck, he studied at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire before entering Yale College. He left Yale to join the Army Air Corps, serving as a cargo pilot in the Pacific theater during the Second World War. After the war, he returned to school, graduating from Yale in 1947. Shattuck then moved to Paris where he worked for UNESCO's film service. In this capacity he came into contact with luminaries of European culture such as Jean Cocteau, Alice B. Toklas and Georges Braque, and met his future wife Nora White, a dancer with the Ballets Russes.

When he returned to New York, Shattuck worked in publishing, and later taught at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Virginia, and Boston University, despite his lack of a graduate degree.

Shattuck was among the founding members of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics.

In addition to a long list of distinguished translations from the French, Shattuck's works include:

*"The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France, 1885 to World War I" (1958)
*"Proust's Binoculars" (1963)
*"Half Tame" (1964)
*"The Forbidden Experiment: The Story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron" (1980)
*"Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography" (1994)
*"Proust's Way: A Field Guide to 'In Search of Lost Time" (2000)

Shattuck's essays frequently appeared in "The New York Review of Books" and other publications.

External links

* [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/12/10/roger_shattuck_82_author_was_leading_literary_scholar/ "Boston Globe" obituary]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/10/arts/10shattuck.html "New York Times Obituary]