Walter Abish
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Walter Abish (December 24, 1931 – May 28, 2022) was an Austrian-born American author of experimental novels and short stories. He was conferred the
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...
in 1981 and was awarded a
MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
six years later.


Early life

Abish was born in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
on December 24, 1931. His family was
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. His father, Adolph, worked as a perfumer; his mother was Friedl (Rubin). At a young age, he fled with his family from the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
, traveling first to Italy and
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
before living in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
from 1940 to 1949. In 1949, they relocated to Israel, where Abish served in the army and developed an interest in writing. He settled in the United States in 1957 and became an American citizen three years later.


Career

Abish published his first novel, ''
Alphabetical Africa ''Alphabetical Africa'' is a constrained writing experiment by Walter Abish. It is written in the form of a novel. Writing in '' Esquire'', Harold Bloom put it on a list of 20th century novels that will endure. A paperback edition was issued i ...
'', in 1974. The book, whose first and last chapters employ only words starting with the letter "A", was characterized by
Richard Howard Richard Joseph Howard (October 13, 1929 – March 31, 2022; adopted as Richard Joseph Orwitz) was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a graduate of Columbia University, w ...
in ''
The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' as "something more than a stunt, though a stunt it is." This was followed by his first collection of stories, ''Minds Meet'', a year later, with one story envisaging Marcel Proust in
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
. His second collection, '' In the Future Perfect'', was released in 1977 and utilized words juxtaposed in unusual patterns to form alphanumeric games. Writing in ''
The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...
'', Alfred Sims noted that, as in Abish's previous work, "Here again the old war horses of plot and narrative line are sacrificed in favor of reflections on the nature and use of language." Abish was conferred a literature fellowship by the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
in 1979. He published a second novel, '' How German Is It'', the following year. Recognized as his most celebrated work, it garnered him the
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...
in 1981. Of Abish's prose, the PEN/Faulkner judges ( William H. Gass, Tim O'Brien , Elizabeth Hardwick) said: "It helps keep the American novel alive in its time. The prose of this novel is as cold as snow in a storm and as driven." He also received a Guggenheim Fellowship (1981) and a
MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
(1987), and sat on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal '' Conjunctions''. Abish's third collection, ''99: the New Meaning'', was released in 1990 as a "limited edition of five collagist stories". His last novel, '' Eclipse Fever'' (1993), received mixed reviews, with James Atlas describing its protagonist in ''The Times Book Review'' as "even for a literary critic, something of a bore". But
Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...
, reviewing the book in ''The Independent'', wrote: "Abish, unlike a populist film maker, doesn't simply produce snapshots to be passed among the mass. He tears treasured portraits from our culture's family album and thrusts them into his cunning slide carousel. Clicking from one page to the next, we reflect not on the death of literary fiction but on its vitality." Abish worked and taught at Empire State College, Wheaton College,
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...
,
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, Brown University,
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, and Cooper Union. He also served on the board of International PEN from 1982 to 1988. He was on the board of governors for the New York Foundation for the Arts. Abish was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1998.


Personal life

Abish married Cecile Gelb, a photographer and sculptor, in 1953. They remained married until his death. They did not have children. Abish died on May 28, 2022, at
Mount Sinai Beth Israel Mount Sinai Beth Israel is a 799-bed teaching hospital in Manhattan. It is part of the Mount Sinai Health System, a nonprofit health system formed in September 2013 by the merger of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center, and ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
at 90 years old.


Bibliography

* '' Duel Site'' – poetry, 1970 * ''
Alphabetical Africa ''Alphabetical Africa'' is a constrained writing experiment by Walter Abish. It is written in the form of a novel. Writing in '' Esquire'', Harold Bloom put it on a list of 20th century novels that will endure. A paperback edition was issued i ...
'' – novel, 1974 * '' Minds Meet'' – story collection, 1975 * '' In the Future Perfect'' – story collection, 1977 * '' How German Is It'' (''Wie deutsch ist es'') – novel, 1980 * '' 99: The New Meaning'' – story collection, 1990 * '' Eclipse Fever'' – novel, 1993 * '' Double Vision: A Self-Portrait'' – memoir, 2004


Awards

* 1972 – Fellow of
New Jersey State Council on the Arts The New Jersey State Council on the Arts was founded in 1966 to support artistic activities in the state of New Jersey. It is funded by the New Jersey State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Art ...
* 1974 – Rose Isabel Williams Foundation grant * 1977 –
Ingram Merrill Foundation The Ingram Merrill Foundation was a private foundation established in the mid-1950s by poet James Merrill (1926-1995), using funds from his substantial family inheritance.J. D. McClatchyBraving the Elements ''The New Yorker'', 27 March 1995. Retrie ...
grant * 1979 – Fellow of
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
* 1981 – Guggenheim fellowship * 1981 – CAPS grant * 1981 –
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...
* 1985 – Fellow of
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
''How German Is It'' * 1987 – Fellow of German Academic Exchange Service * 1987 – MacArthur Fellows Program * 1991 –
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headq ...
Award of Merit Medal for the Novel * 1992 – Lila Wallace – Reader's Digest Fund fellowship


References


External links


"Sentimental Re-Education"
John Updike, ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', February 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Abish, Walter 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets Austrian emigrants to Israel Austrian expatriates in China Austrian expatriates in Italy MacArthur Fellows Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Empire State College faculty Columbia University faculty Brown University faculty Cooper Union faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners American male novelists American male short story writers American male poets Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from Massachusetts Novelists from New York (state) University at Buffalo faculty Wheaton College faculty Writers from Vienna Yale University faculty