Donald Barthelme

Author profile

born

April 07, 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The United States

died

July 23, 1989

gender

male

website

http://www.jessamyn.com/barth/

genre

Literature & Fiction, Nonfiction

About this author

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Donald Barthelme was born to two students at the University of Pennsylvania. The family moved to Texas two years later, where Barthelme's father would become a professor of architecture at the University of Houston, where Barthelme would later major in journalism. In 1951, still a student, he wrote his first articles for the Houston Post. Barthelme was drafted into the Korean War in 1953, arriving in Korea on July 27, the very day the cease-fire ending the war was signed. He served briefly as the editor of an Army newspaper before returning to the U.S. and his job at the Houston Post. Once back, he continued his studies at the University of Houston, studying philosophy. Although he continued to take classes until 1957, he never received a d...more Donald Barthelme was born to two students at the University of Pennsylvania. The family moved to Texas two years later, where Barthelme's father would become a professor of architecture at the University of Houston, where Barthelme would later major in journalism. In 1951, still a student, he wrote his first articles for the Houston Post. Barthelme was drafted into the Korean War in 1953, arriving in Korea on July 27, the very day the cease-fire ending the war was signed. He served briefly as the editor of an Army newspaper before returning to the U.S. and his job at the Houston Post. Once back, he continued his studies at the University of Houston, studying philosophy. Although he continued to take classes until 1957, he never received a degree. He spent much of his free time in Houston’s “black” jazz clubs, listening to musical innovators such as Lionel Hampton and Peck Kelly, an experience which influenced his later writing.

Barthelme's relationship with his father was a struggle between a rebellious son and a demanding father. In later years they would have tremendous arguments about the kinds of literature in which Barthelme was interested and wrote. While in many ways his father was avant-garde in art and aesthetics, he did not approve of the post-modern and deconstruction schools. Barthelme's attitude toward his father is delineated in the novels The Dead Father and The King as he is pictured in the characters King Arthur and Lancelot. Barthelme's independence also shows in his moving away from the family's Roman Catholicism (his mother was especially devout), a separation that troubled Barthelme throughout his life as did the distance with his father. He seemed much closer to his mother and agreeable to her strictures.

Barthelme went on to teach for brief periods at Boston University, University at Buffalo, and the College of the City of New York, where he served as Distinguished Visiting Professor from 1974-75. He married four times. His second wife, Helen Barthelme, later wrote a biography entitled Donald Barthelme: The Genesis of a Cool Sound, published in 2001. With his third wife Birgit, a Dane, he had his first child, a daughter named Anne, and near the end of his life he married Marion, with whom he had his second daughter, Kate. Marion and Donald remained wed until his 1989 death from throat cancer. Donald Barthelme's brothers Frederick (1943 - ) and Steven (1947- ) are also respected fiction writers and teachers at The University of Southern Mississippi.(less)

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Books by Donald Barthelme

Average rating: 4.03 · 7,136 ratings · 648 reviews · 31 distinct works

	Sixty Stories 4.31 avg rating — 1,853 ratings — published 1981 — 11 editions	My rating:
	Snow White 3.60 avg rating — 1,151 ratings — published 1967 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Forty Stories 4.32 avg rating — 1,132 ratings — published 1987 — 8 editions	My rating:
	The Dead Father by Donald Barthelme, Donald Antrim (Introduction) 3.82 avg rating — 740 ratings — published 1975 — 17 editions	My rating:
	The King by Donald Barthelme, Barry Moser (Illustrator) 3.69 avg rating — 277 ratings — published 1990 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Come Back, Dr. Caligari 4.10 avg rating — 215 ratings — published 1964 — 5 editions	My rating:
	City Life 3.90 avg rating — 222 ratings — published 1970 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Teachings of Don B. by Donald Barthelme, Thomas Pynchon (Introduction), Kim Herzinger (Editor) 3.89 avg rating — 199 ratings — published 1992 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Paradise 3.65 avg rating — 191 ratings — published 1986 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Not-Knowing: The Essays and Interviews of Donald Barthelme by Donald Barthelme, Kim Herzinger (Editor), John Barth (Introduction) 4.04 avg rating — 154 ratings — published 1997 — 4 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Donald Barthelme

“--Why are we fighting them?
--They're mad. We're sane.
--How do we know?
--That we're sane?
--Yes.
--Am I sane?
--To all appearances.
--And you, do you consider yourself sane?
--I do.
--Well, there you have it.
--But don't they also consider themselves sane?
--I think they know. Deep down. That they're not sane.
--How must that make them feel?
--Terrible, I should think. They must fight ever more fiercely, in order to deny what they know to be true. That they are not sane.”
― Donald Barthelme

tags: war

31 people liked it

“Write about what you're afraid of.”
― Donald Barthelme

18 people liked it

“—What do the children say?
—There's a thing the children say.
—What do the children say?
—They say: Will you always love me?
—Always.
—Will you always remember me?
—Always.
—Will you remember me a year from now?
—Yes, I will.
—Will you remember me two years from now?
—Yes, I will.
—Will you remember me five years from now?
—Yes, I will.
—Knock knock.
—Who's there?
—You see?

("Great Days," Forty Stories)”
― Donald Barthelme

16 people liked it

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Donald Barthelme

Author profile

combine editionsBooks by Donald Barthelme

Quotes by Donald Barthelme

Topics Mentioning This Author

combine editions
Books by Donald Barthelme