Donald Barthelme’s Followers (683)

Donald Barthelme

Born

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The United States

April 07, 1931

Died

July 23, 1989

Website

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

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Nonfiction

Influences

François Rabelais, Heinrich von Kleist, Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka, ...more

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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 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. ...more

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Donald Barthelme’s books

Average rating: 3.93 · 27,447 ratings · 2,501 reviews · 116 distinct works • Similar authors

	Sixty Stories 4.19 avg rating — 5,812 ratings — published 1981 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Forty Stories 4.18 avg rating — 3,358 ratings — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Snow White 3.48 avg rating — 2,779 ratings — published 1967 — 30 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dead Father by Donald Barthelme, Donald Antrim (Introduction) 3.78 avg rating — 2,190 ratings — published 1975 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The School by Donald Barthelme, Steven Polansky (Foreword) 3.55 avg rating — 751 ratings — published 1976 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The King by Donald Barthelme, Barry Moser (Illustrator) 3.60 avg rating — 724 ratings — published 1990 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City Life 3.88 avg rating — 620 ratings — published 1970 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Come Back, Dr. Caligari 3.87 avg rating — 579 ratings — published 1964 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paradise 3.52 avg rating — 588 ratings — published 1986 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts 3.86 avg rating — 466 ratings — published 1968 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Donald Barthelme…

Quotes by Donald Barthelme (?)

“The aim of literature ... is the creation of a strange object covered with fur which breaks your heart.”
― Donald Barthelme, Come Back, Dr. Caligari

tags: literature

1037 likes

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

112 likes

“He is mad about being small when you were big, but no, that's not it, he is mad about being helpless when you were powerful, but no, not that either, he is mad about being contingent when you were necessary, not quite it... he is insane because when he loved you, you didn't notice.”
― Donald Barthelme

tags: insanity, madness, spite

85 likes

See all Donald Barthelme's quotes »

Polls

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Canto della pianura di Kent Haruf

11 votes, 27.5%

Assalonne, Assalonne! di William Faulkner

10 votes, 25.0%

Gilead di Marilynne Robinson

5 votes, 12.5%

Età di ferro di J.M. Coetzee

5 votes, 12.5%

La vita in città di Donald Barthelme

4 votes, 10.0%

American Dust di Richard Brautigan

4 votes, 10.0%

Giorni di fuoco di Ryan Gattis

1 vote, 2.5%

Un amore senza fine di Scott Spencer

0 votes, 0.0%

Non dite che non abbiamo niente di Madeleine Thien

0 votes, 0.0%

40 total votes

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