Douglas Woolf
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Douglas Woolf (March 23, 1922 – January 18, 1992) was an American author of short stories, novels and book reviews.


Biography

Born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Woolf grew up in
Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a Village (New York), village located within the Town (New York), Town of Mamaroneck (town), New York, Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midt ...
and attended Harvard University from 1939 to 1942. During World War II he served as an ambulance driver in North Africa for the American Field Service and then as a flight officer with the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943 to 1945. After the war Woolf studied at the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...
(BA 1950), and the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
for graduate work, until his thesis novel, ''The Hypocritic Days'', was rejected. For the most part Woolf lived the life he depicts in his writing, deliberately rejecting the expectations of mainstream America and preferring to live among and as society's misfits. He wandered incessantly, usually by car, preferring temporary marginal jobs of all kinds ― such as migrant farm worker, driver, ice cream seller, door-to-door market researcher — providing much of the experiences and detail of his fiction. In 1955
Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charle ...
published Woolf's first short novel, ''The Hypocritic Days'' with Divers Press, and Woolf would be often associated with the fiction wing of the
New American Poetry New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...
, appearing in the anthologies ''The Moderns: An Anthology of New Writing in America'' (1963), edited by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) and ''New American Story'' (1965), edited by Donald M. Allen and Robert Creeley. His next two novels, ''Fade Out'' and ''Wall to Wall'' were published by Grove Press and often taken as representing his most characteristic work. In 1976 he married his second wife, Sandra Braman, with whom Woolf ran a small press, Wolf Run Books, as well as short lived little magazine, ''Vital Statistics'' (3 issues, 1978–1979). The two continued Woolf's habitual itinerant life, taking on miscellaneous work, writing and appearing in numerous journals and steadily publishing volumes now and then, which continued until Woolf's health began to break down in the mid-1980s.Sandra Braman, "Biographical note" in ''Hypocritic Days and Other Tales'' (1993). Woolf's novels are typically road narratives, whose protagonists seek an existence outside the encumbrances of material needs and middle class expectations. However, this is not the world of bohemians or the Beats, but rather of ordinary social rejects or eccentrics eking out lives outside of but constantly threatened by social control. Deserts and abandoned ghost towns appear prominently in his work as temporary refuges. The narratives do not rant against the modernity they reject, but rather are characterized by a sad, ironic humor as their characters improvise lives as best they can within the circumstances they find themselves.


Awards

* 1980
American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...
for ''Future Preconditional''


Bibliography

* ''The Hypocritic Days'' (Divers Press, 1955). * ''Fade Out'' (Grove Press, 1959) () * ''Wall to Wall'' (Grove Press, 1962) () * ''Signs of a Migrant Worrier'' (Coyote Books, 1965). Stories. * ''Ya! and John-Juan; Two Novels'' (Harper & Row, 1971; Rpt. with "Introduction" by Robert Creeley, Dalkey Archive, 2002) () * ''Spring of the Lamb'' (Jargon Books, 1972). * ''On Us'' (Black Sparrow Press, 1977) () * ''HAD: A Tale'' (Wolf Run, 1977) * ''Future Preconditional: A Collection'' (Coach House Press, 1978). Stories. * ''The Timing Chain'' (Tombouctou Books, 1985) () * ''Loving Ladies, to Maine and back & beyond'' (Zelot Books Williams Shields, 1986) * ''Hypocritic Days & Other Tales'', ed. Sandra Bramen, "Preface" Edward Dorn (Black Sparrow Press, 1993) ()


Further reading

*Creeley, Robert. "First Prize," ''The Collected Essays'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). * Dorn, Edward. "The New Frontier," ''Views'' (San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1980) * Kart, Larry.
Tracking Douglas Woolf
" ''Chicago Tribune'' (May 1, 1994). * Prynne, J. H. "Tomorrow is Fade Out Night," ''Prospect'' 6 (1964).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolf, Douglas 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American satirists Harvard University alumni University of New Mexico alumni University of Arizona alumni 1922 births 1992 deaths American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers American Book Award winners 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers American Field Service personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II