John Dos Passos Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 2 (1981) Winner
Gilbert Sorrentino
ギルバート・ソレンティーノ
Girubāto Sorrentīno
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1929-04-27 （Brooklyn, New York）
- Died
- 2006-05-18 （Brooklyn, New York） age 77
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Bay Ridge, Brooklyn → Palo Alto (taught at Stanford University) → Returned to Bay Ridge after retirement
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, professor, editor
- Active Years
- 1956-2006
- Affiliations
- Neon (editor), Kulchur (editor), Grove Press (editor), Sarah Lawrence College (faculty), Columbia University (faculty), University of Scranton (faculty), New School for Social Research (faculty), Stanford University (Professor of English, 1982–1999)
- Influenced By
- Flann O'Brien
- Influenced
- Jeffrey Eugenides, Nicole Krauss, Jenny Offill, Christopher Sorrentino, Trey Ellis, Ammiel Alcalay
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn College | — | — | — | 1950年代（在学および復学） | United States |
Brooklyn College
Period:
1950年代（在学および復学）
Country:
United States
Attended Brooklyn College before and after military service; did not complete a degree.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Guggenheim Fellowship (Fiction) | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1987 | Guggenheim Fellowship (Fiction) | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1981 | John Dos Passos Prize for Literature | — | — | John Dos Passos Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1981 | PEN/Faulkner Award | — | — | PEN/Faulkner Foundation | ファイナリスト |
| 2003 | PEN/Faulkner Award | — | — | PEN/Faulkner Foundation | ファイナリスト |
| 1982 | Mildred and Harold Strauss Livings (declined) | — | — | American Academy of Arts and Letters | 辞退 |
| 1985 | American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature | — | — | American Academy of Arts and Letters | 受賞 |
| 1992 | Lannan Literary Award for Fiction | — | — | Lannan Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2005 | Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award | — | — | Lannan Foundation | 受賞 |
Guggenheim Fellowship (Fiction)
1973
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship (Fiction)
1987
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
John Dos Passos Prize for Literature
1981
Organization:
John Dos Passos Foundation
Result:
受賞
PEN/Faulkner Award
1981
Organization:
PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Result:
ファイナリスト
PEN/Faulkner Award
2003
Organization:
PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Result:
ファイナリスト
Mildred and Harold Strauss Livings (declined)
1982
Organization:
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result:
辞退
American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature
1985
Organization:
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result:
受賞
Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
1992
Organization:
Lannan Foundation
Result:
受賞
Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award
2005
Organization:
Lannan Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Lannan Literary Awards
5 appearances
-
Edition 94 (2006, held 2 times in year) Lifetime Achievement Award
Works
Major Works
The Sky Changes
1966 FictionSorrentino's first novel, fictionalizing aspects of his early life and the breakdown of his first marriage.
personal experiencemarital breakdownlanguage and expression
Mulligan Stew
1979 Postmodern novel / MetafictionA humorous postmodern romp that plays with metafictional possibilities and riffs on techniques from Flann O'Brien.
metafictionboundary between author and characterslanguage experimentation
Blue Pastoral
1983 FictionA novel that explores American narrative through playful language and particular attention to place.
American discoursesense of place (especially Brooklyn)attention to language
Gold Fools
1999 Experimental novelAn experimental novel written almost entirely in interrogative sentences, intended to interrogate cultural assumptions about the Old West.
formal experimentationreexamining Western mythologypossibilities of language
Bibliography
- The Darkness Surrounds Us (poetry, 1960)
- Black and White (poetry, 1964)
- The Perfect Fiction (poetry, 1968)
- The Sky Changes (novel, 1966)
- Steelwork (1970)
- Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (1971)
- Splendide-Hôtel (1973)
- Flawless Play Restored: The Masque of Fungo (1974)
- Mulligan Stew (1979)
- Aberration of Starlight (1980)
- Crystal Vision (1981)
- Blue Pastoral (1983)
- Odd Number (1985)
- Rose Theatre (1987)
- Misterioso (1989)
- Under the Shadow (1991)
- Red the Fiend (1995)
- Gold Fools (1999)
- Little Casino (2002)
- The Moon in its Flight (short fiction, 2004)
- Lunar Follies (2005)
- A Strange Commonplace (2006)
- The Abyss of Human Illusion (posthumous, 2010)
- A Beehive Arranged on Humane Principles (novella, 1986)
- Something Said (criticism, 1984; expanded 2001)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- metafictionalexperimental and formally playful with languageattuned to American speech
- Recurring Motifs
- depictions of Brooklynself-referential language and textsblurring boundaries of narrative
Legacy
Sorrentino is known for his rigorous attention to language and form as a postmodern writer; his experimental style and depictions of Brooklyn influenced subsequent writers. His work has been recognized by numerous awards and continues to be honored posthumously.
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
Archives
- Stanford University Libraries - Gilbert Sorrentino Papers
In Popular Culture
- In 2020, a section of Leif Erickson Park in Bay Ridge was named after Gilbert Sorrentino.
Quotes
-
Sorrentino is a very learned man — we weren't for a second concerned about a Good Housekeeping seal of approval.
Source: Head of Stanford's writing program (quoted in The New York Times obituary) (2006)
Trivia
- Taught at Stanford despite not having completed a college degree.
- Declined the Mildred and Harold Strauss Livings when offered.
- His son Christopher Sorrentino is also a novelist.