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Peter Matthiessen

ピーター・マティセン

Peter Matthiessen

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1927-05-22 （New York City, U.S.）
Died
2014-04-05 （Sagaponack, New York, U.S.） age 86
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Zen Buddhism
Residence History
New York City → Connecticut (childhood) → Paris, France (study/residence) → Sagaponack, New York

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Nonfiction writer, Naturalist, Wilderness writer, Zen teacher, Former CIA agent
Active Years
1950-2014
Affiliations
The Paris Review (co-founder)
Memberships
White Plum Asanga
Influenced By
George Schaller (field biologist), Bernard Glassman (Zen teacher)
Influenced
Madeline Ko-I Bastis (student), Michel Engu Dobbs (student), Dorothy Dai-En Friedman (student)

Education

Yale University
English (major)
Degree: B.A.
Period: 1947–1950 (学士取得)
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: United States
Junior year spent at the Sorbonne (University of Paris)
Sorbonne (University of Paris)
Period: 在学（交換・ジュニアイヤー）
Country: France
Attended as Yale junior-year study
St. Bernard's School
Country: United States
Primary/secondary education
Hotchkiss School
Country: United States
Prep school (secondary education)

Awards

National Book Award — Contemporary Thought
1979
Work: The Snow Leopard
Category: Contemporary Thought
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Book Award — General Nonfiction (paperback)
1980
Work: The Snow Leopard
Category: General Non-Fiction (paperback)
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Golden Plate Award
1991
Organization: American Academy of Achievement
Result: 受賞
Helmerich Award (Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award)
1993
Organization: Tulsa Library Trust
Result: 受賞
State Author of New York (designation)
1995
Category: 1995–1997 指定
Organization: State of New York
Result: 指定
The Heinz Awards — Arts and Humanities
2000
Category: Arts and Humanities
Organization: The Heinz Family Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Book Award — Fiction
2008
Work: Shadow Country
Category: Fiction
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Spiros Vergos Prize for Freedom of Expression
2010
Organization: Prague Writers' Festival / related organizations
Result: 受賞
William Dean Howells Medal
2010
Work: Shadow Country
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Snow Leopard

1978 Nonfiction / Nature travel 224 pages

A travel memoir of a Himalayan expedition combining natural observation with spiritual inquiry; reflects on nature, loss, and the search for meaning.

NatureSpiritualityLossExploration

Shadow Country

2008 Fiction / Historical novel 890 pages

A monumental reworking of a trilogy set in frontier Florida, exploring violence, land history, and intertwined destinies in an epic narrative.

ViolenceLand and ownershipAmerican South historyFate

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

1965 Fiction / Social novel

A novel about American missionaries encountering an indigenous South American tribe, addressing religion, cultural clash, and colonial impact.

ReligionClash of civilizationsCultural encounter
Adaptations
  • [Film] At Play in the Fields of the Lord (film) / Hector Babenco (1991)

Travelin' Man (short story)

1957 Short story

A short story from Matthiessen's early career; elements were adapted for film.

Human relationshipsJourney
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Young One / Luis Buñuel (1960)

Bibliography

  • Race Rock (1954)
  • Partisans (1955)
  • The Snow Leopard (1978)
  • At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965)
  • Shadow Country (2008)
  • In Paradise (2014)

Adaptations

  • The Young One — directed by Luis Buñuel (1960)
  • At Play in the Fields of the Lord film (1991, dir. Hector Babenco)

Translations of Works

  • The Snow Leopard and others (translated into multiple languages)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Lyrical, detailed nature descriptionMeticulous, research-based nonfiction proseEpic, layered novelistic structure
Recurring Motifs
Nature and animalsWilderness and expeditionsSpirituality and ZenLoss and renewal

Health

  • Leukemia
    2012–2014
    Diagnosed in late 2012; treated until his death in 2014. He died three days before publication of his final novel.

Legacy

Peter Matthiessen combined exquisite nature writing with spiritual inquiry and was highly acclaimed in both nonfiction and fiction. He was also a prominent environmental activist and left a lasting influence on representations of nature and spirituality in American literature.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (associated awards)

In Popular Culture

  • Several works adapted to film; frequently cited in literary and environmental contexts

Quotes

  • Deep in a novel, one scarcely knows what may surface next... In abandoning oneself to the free creation of something never beheld on earth, one feels almost delirious with a strange joy.
    Source: The Paris Review interview (1999) (1999)
  • No one writes more lyrically [than Matthiessen] about animals or describes more movingly the spiritual experience of mountaintops, savannas, and the sea.
    Source: Critic Michael Dirda (review) (2008)

Trivia

  • He stated that he invented The Paris Review as cover for his CIA activities.
  • The short story "Travelin' Man" was connected to Luis Buñuel's film The Young One (1960).
  • He is the only writer to have won the National Book Award in both nonfiction (The Snow Leopard) and fiction (Shadow Country).
  • Diagnosed with leukemia in late 2012; died April 5, 2014, three days before publication of his final book In Paradise.