David James Duncan (born 1952)
at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library,

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

is an American novelist and essayist, best known for his two bestselling novels, '' The River Why'' (1983) and '' The Brothers K'' (1992). Both novels received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers award; ''The Brothers K'' was a

New York Times Notable Book ''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 ...

in 1992 and won a Best Books Award from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

. His third novel, ''Sun House'', was released by Little, Brown and Company on August 8, 2023.

Film adaptation

In 2008, ''The River Why'' was adapted into a "low-budget film" of the same name starring

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. For his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Cannes Film Festival Award for B ...

and

Amber Heard Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film '' All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2006), and went on to star in films such as '' The Ward'' (2010), '' Drive Angry'' (2011), and ...

. On April 30, 2008, the film rights to ''The River Why'' became the subject of a lawsuit by Duncan alleging

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

, among other issues.Duncan v. Cohen, Case No. 08-CV-2243
( USDC, N. Calif. filed April 30, 2008) from courthousenews.com The lawsuit has been settled and Duncan has said, "I engaged in a three-year legal battle against the producers of the film over their handling of my film rights. That battle was settled last fall. My name is off the film, Sierra Club's name is off the film, and the rights have returned to me. I tried to remove my title from their film, too, but the federal magistrate in San Francisco let them keep it".

Other works

Duncan has written a collection of short stories, ''River Teeth'' (1996), and a memoir of sorts, ''

My Story As Told By Water My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Marke ...

'' (2001). '' God Laughs and Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right'' was published in 2001. An essay, "Bird Watching as a Blood Sport," appeared in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'' in 1998; Duncan wrote the foreword to ''Thoreau on Water: Reflecting Heaven'' (2001). An essay, "A Mickey Mantle Koan: The Obstinate Grip of an Autographed Baseball," appeared in ''Harper's Magazine'' in 1992.

Personal life

Duncan was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

and lives in Lolo in

Missoula County, Montana Missoula County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state, state of Montana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 117,922, making it Montana's List of counties in Montana, third most populous ...

. He has written op-ed pieces in support of preservation of Montana's Blackfoot River. His papers are held in the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World, part of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at

References

External links

David James Duncan
Official website

from literature-map.com (

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required)
INK Q&A: Interview with David James Duncan
from the

Powell's Books Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores, based in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon. Their flagship store, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent bookstore, independent new and used bookstore in the world. In addit ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, David James 20th-century American novelists 1952 births Living people Writers from Portland, Oregon People from Missoula County, Montana 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male essayists 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Oregon