David Ohle is an American writer, novelist, and a lecturer at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. After receiving his M.A. from KU, he taught at the University of Texas at Austin from 1975 to 1984. In 2002, he began teaching fiction writing and screenwriting as a part-time lecturer at the University of Kansas. His short fiction has appeared in ''Esquire'', the ''Transatlantic Review'', ''Paris Review'', and ''Harper's'', among other magazines.
While it remained out of print for over thirty years, his first novel ''Motorman'' (initially published in 1972) gathered a quiet
cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
, was circulated through photocopies, and went on to become an influence to a generation of American writers such as
Shelley Jackson and
Ben Marcus
Ben Marcus (born October 11, 1967) is an American author and professor at Columbia University. He has written four books of fiction. His stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in publications including ''Harper's'', ''The New Yorker'', ''The ...
.
[Marcus, Ben. Introduction, ''Motorman'' (2004). 3rd Bed.]
His subsequent novels ''The Age of Sinatra'' (2004), ''The Pisstown Chaos'' (2008), ''The Old Reactor'' (2013) and ''The Blast'' (2014) take place in the same dystopian setting as ''Motorman''. Ohle's fiction is often described as weird, surreal and experimental. His own influences include
Leonora Carrington
Mary Leonora Carrington (6 April 191725 May 2011) was a British-born, naturalised Mexican Surrealist painter and novelist. She lived most of her adult life in Mexico City and was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movem ...
,
Philip K. Dick,
Flann O'Brien
Brian O'Nolan (; 5 October 19111 April 1966), his pen name being Flann O'Brien, was an Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland, Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth- ...
, and
Raymond Roussel.
[Carroll, Tobias]
"The Surreal Life"
''The Paris Review
''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...
'', August 14, 2013.
Works
Fiction
* ''Motorman'' (1972, re-issued by 3rd bed/
Calamari Press in 2004)
* ''The Age of Sinatra'' (2004)
* ''The Pisstown Chaos'' (2008)
* ''Boons & The Camp'' (2009,
Calamari Press)
* ''The Devil in Kansas'' (2012)
* ''The Old Reactor'' (2013)
* ''The Blast'' (2014,
Calamari Press)
* ''The Death of a Character'' (2021)
Non-fiction
* "The City Moon" (a faux-newspaper he published with Roger Martin from 1973-1985)
* ''Cows are Freaky when they Look at You: An Oral History of the Kaw Valley Hemp Pickers'' (1991)
* ''Cursed from Birth: The Short, Unhappy Life of William S. Burroughs, Jr.'' (2006)
References
External links
David Ohle on The Missouri Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohle, David
Living people
20th-century American novelists
Year of birth missing (living people)
American weird fiction writers