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John Sanford (Julian Lawrence Shapiro)

ジョン・ビー・サンフォード

John B. Sanford

Aliases: Julian L. Shapiro / Julian Lawrence Shapiro / John Sanford
Pen Names: John Sanford（Pen name used for fiction and memoirs）, John B. Sanford（Used in commercial works and screenwriting (legally adopted in 1940)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1904-05-31 （Harlem, New York）
Died
2003-03-06 （Montecito, California） age 98
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Harlem, New York → Hollywood, Los Angeles → Montecito, California

Career

Occupations
novelist, screenwriter, memoirist
Active Years
1933-2003
Memberships
Communist Party USA (former member)
Influenced By
Nathanael West, John Dos Passos (comparative)

Education

Lafayette College
Country: United States
Completed undergraduate studies; exact graduation year not certain
Fordham University (School of Law)
Law
Degree: LL.B
Period: 1920年代
Year of Graduation: 1929
Country: United States
Obtained law degree in 1929

Awards

PEN/Faulkner Award
Work: Five-volume autobiography (e.g. The Color of the Air)
Organization: PEN America
Result: 受賞
Los Angeles Times Lifetime Achievement Award
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Water Wheel

1933 novel

Sanford's first novel, written while isolated in the Adirondacks; an early experimental work demonstrating his avant-garde tendencies.

individual isolationsmall-town America

The Old Man's Place (originally The Hard Guys)

1935 novel

Considered the first of the Warrensburg trilogy; its success led Sanford to Hollywood and a screenwriting career.

violencefriendshipMidwestern American realities

The People From Heaven

1943 novel

Considered Sanford's masterpiece: it depicts a small-town shopkeeper's racially motivated violence and complex human relations; praised by contemporaries such as Carl Sandburg and William Carlos Williams.

racismviolence and revengemoral collapse

The Color of the Air: Scenes From the Life of an American Jew (Volume 1)

1985 memoir / autobiography

First volume of his autobiography covering 1904–1927, exploring his experiences as an American Jew and his boyhood.

Jewish identityfamily and loss

Bibliography

  • The Water Wheel (as Julian L. Shapiro), 1933
  • The Old Man's Place (originally The Hard Guys), 1935
  • Seventy Times Seven, 1939
  • Make My Bed in Hell, 1939
  • The People from Heaven, 1943
  • A Man without Shoes, 1951
  • The Land That Touches Mine, 1953
  • Every Island Fled Away, 1964
  • The $300 Man, 1967
  • A More Goodly Country: A Personal History of America, 1975
  • Adirondack Stories, 1976
  • View From This Wilderness: American Literature as History, 1977
  • To Feed Their Hopes. A Book of American Women, 1980
  • The Winters of That Country: Tales of the Man Made Seasons, 1984
  • The Color of the Air (Volume 1), 1985
  • The Waters of Darkness (Volume 2), 1986
  • A Very Good Land to Fall With (Volume 3), 1987
  • A Walk in the Fire (Volume 4), 1989
  • The Season, It Was Winter (Volume 5), 1991
  • Maggie: A Love Story, 1993
  • The View from Mt. Morris: A Harlem Boyhood, 1994
  • We Have a Little Sister: Marguerite: The Midwest Years, 1995
  • A Palace of Silver: A Memoir of Maggie Roberts, 2003

Adaptations

  • Honky Tonk (screenplay contribution, 1941)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimental structureslyric, supple proseconnected short-portrait vignettes
Recurring Motifs
portrayals of small-town charactersJewish experience and identityviolence and moral conflict

Health

  • visual impairment
    晩年（80代〜）
    Experienced declining vision but continued writing into advanced age

Legacy

John Sanford (born Julian Shapiro) holds a distinct place in 20th-century American letters. Though long neglected, he produced significant fiction and a five-volume autobiography that earned major recognition (including PEN/Faulkner) and has seen renewed interest with recent reissues.

Archives

  • University of California, Santa Barbara - John B. Sanford / Robert W. Smith Collection

Quotes

  • His books are a stunning fusion of formal experimentation and supple, lyric prose. There is nothing like them anywhere in American letters.
    Source: Tim Rutten (Los Angeles Times) (2003)

Trivia

  • Wrote half of his books after the age of 80.
  • He and his wife Marguerite Roberts refused to testify before the HUAC and were blacklisted.
  • Left three unpublished novels at his death.