A definitive biography of a twentieth century gay author whose work
has recently been rediscovered and enjoys a cult following. One of
the most iconoclastic twentieth-century American novelists, James
Purdy penned original and sometimes shocking works about those on
the margins of American society, exploring small towns, urban life,
failure, alienation, sexuality, and familial relations. In his own
life, Purdy was a compelling if eccentric figure, declared an
"authentic American genius" by Gore Vidal. James Purdy: Life of a
Contrarian Writer is the first full-length biography of the gay
American novelist, story writer, playwright, and poet. Michael
Snyder has spent over a decade plumbing the mysteries of Purdy's
career and personal life, including interviews with those who knew
him. From his roots in northwestern Ohio, Purdy moved to the world
of Bohemian artists and jazz musicians in Chicago in the late 1930s
and 1940s, travelled in Spain, studied in Mexico, enlisted in the
Army Air Corps, worked for the Federal Security Agency, and taught
in Cuba and at a Wisconsin college for nearly a decade. All the
while, he aspired to become a writer, but struggled to publish.
Only when friends financed the private printing of his work did he
find a champion in poet Dame Edith Sitwell, who helped get him
published in England, which led to publication in the United
States. After moving to New York in 1957, he spent nearly fifty
years writing in Brooklyn Heights. Although Purdy's critical
reputation peaked in the 1960s and he never enjoyed a bestseller,
his often queer and edgy content found a diverse following that
included Tennessee Williams, Langston Hughes, William Carlos
Williams, Dorothy Parker, Edward Albee, Jonathan Franzen, John
Waters, and many LGBTQ readers. Difficult and often contrarian,
Purdy sometimes hampered his own career as he sought recognition
from a conservative, cliquey New York publishing world. Conveying
the potency and influence of Purdy's fierce artistic integrity,
vision, and self-definition as a truth-teller, this groundbreaking
literary biography recovers the life of a highly talented writer
with a persistent cult following.
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