Elkin, Stanley

Elkin, Stanley
▪ 1996

      U.S. novelist and educator (b. May 11, 1930, New York, N.Y.—d. May 31, 1995, St. Louis, Mo.) was praised for his comic wit and insightful, lyric prose, which was showcased in 17 novels and several works of short fiction, including an early and highly acclaimed collection of short stories, Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers (1966). He began writing in Chicago as a boy, completed (1961) a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and then began his lifelong work, teaching writing at Washington University, St. Louis. Elkin was perhaps best identified with one of his characters, Ben Flesh from The Franchiser (1976). Like Elkin, Flesh suffers from debilitating multiple sclerosis, which for him was both an enlightenment and a burden. As with many of Elkin's characters, Flesh is often preoccupied with illness and how it relates to the American industrial ideal. Central to all of his novels, including The Dick Gibson Show (1971), The Living End (1979), and Magic Kingdom (1985), were Elkin's darkly comic cultural portraits and an innovative style expressing his postmodernist belief that alienation was a phenomenon inherent in American mass culture. Elkin, who was thrice nominated for the National Book Award, was given the honour in 1982 for the novel George Mills. His final novel, Mrs. Ted Bliss, was published posthumously.

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▪ American author
in full  Stanley Lawrence Elkin 
born May 11, 1930, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died May 31, 1995, St. Louis, Mo.

      American writer known for his extraordinary flights of language and imaginative tragicomic explorations of contemporary life.

      Elkin grew up in a Jewish family in Chicago. He received a B.A. (1952), M.A. (1953), and Ph.D. (1961) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, completing a dissertation on William Faulkner (Faulkner, William). From 1960 until his death he taught at Washington University in St. Louis.

      Elkin's first novel, Boswell: A Modern Comedy (1964), tells of an ordinary man who founds a club for famous individuals, hoping like his namesake to bask in reflected glory. Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers (1966), a collection of comic short stories on Jewish themes and characters, was well received. Elkin explored the rift between family ties and the lure of assimilation in A Bad Man (1967).

      The Franchiser (1976), considered one of Elkin's strongest works, tells of Ben Flesh, an orphaned bachelor adopted as an adult into the absurd Finsberg family of 18 twins and triplets, all with rare and incurable diseases. Like Elkin himself, Ben suffers from multiple sclerosis, and he comes to terms with his disease as his brothers and sisters die from theirs. The Living End (1979), a collection of three interwoven novellas about heaven, hell, and Minnesota's twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, is perhaps Elkin's best-known work. The novellas examine the mundane concerns of a Twin Cities liquor salesman, as well as God and the problem of evil. Elkin gained further critical acclaim for Stanley Elkin's The Magic Kingdom (1985), in which Eddy Bale arranges a trip to Disney World for seven terminally ill British children, in honour of his young son's death. In The MacGuffin (1991), Elkin attempted a more conventional narrative structure while maintaining his usual style as he tracks the life of City Commissioner Robert Druff over a period of 48 hours. Mrs. Ted Bliss, a novel about the exploits of an octogenarian widow residing in a condominium complex in Miami Beach, Florida, was published in 1995.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • ELKIN, STANLEY — (1930–1995), U.S. novelist and short story writer. From 1955 to 1957, he served in the U.S. Army. From 1960, he taught and wrote at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was appointed professor of English in 1968. Elkin has been… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Elkin, Stanley (Lawrence) — born May 11, 1930, New York, N.Y., U.S. died May 31, 1995, St. Louis, Mo. U.S. writer. He grew up in Chicago; from 1960 he taught writing at Washington University. His works explore contemporary life with tragicomic wit and imaginative insight.… …   Universalium

  • Elkin, Stanley (Lawrence) — (11 may. 1930, Nueva York, N.Y., EE.UU.–31 may. 1995, St. Louis, Mo.). Escritor estadounidense. Creció en Chicago; a partir de 1960 dictó clases de redacción literaria en la Washington University. Sus obras exploran la vida moderna con agudeza… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Elkin, Stanley — (1930 95)    American short story writer and novelist. A number of protagonists in his writings are Jews …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Stanley — Stanley, Wendell Meredith Stanley, sir Henry Morton * * * (as used in expressions) Baldwin (de Bewdley), Stanley, 1 conde Becker, Gary S(tanley) Derby, Edward (George Geoffrey Smith) Stanley, 14 conde de Donen, Stanley Eddington, Sir Arthur… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Stanley — /stan lee/, n. 1. Arthur Penrhyn /pen rin/, (Dean Stanley) 1815 81, English clergyman and author. 2. Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby, 1799 1869, British statesman: prime minister 1852, 1858 59, 1866 68. 3. Francis Edgar, 1849… …   Universalium

  • Stanley Edward Elkin — (1880 1960) était un homme d affaires et un homme politique canadien qui fut député du Nouveau Brunswick. Biographie Stanley Edward Elkin naît le 12 octobre 1880 à Saint Jean, au Nouveau Brunswick. Il est élu député de la circonscription de Saint …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Stanley Elkin — Infobox Writer name = Stanley Elkin imagesize = 203px caption = pseudonym = birthdate = May 11, 1930 birthplace = Brooklyn, New York deathdate = May 31, 1995 deathplace = St. Louis, Missouri occupation = Novelist, professor nationality = American …   Wikipedia

  • Elkin — /el kin/, n. Stanley, born 1930, U.S. novelist and short story writer. * * * …   Universalium

  • Elkin — El•kin [[t]ˈɛl kɪn[/t]] n. big Stanley, 1930–95, U.S. novelist and short story writer …   From formal English to slang

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