Edward Payson Whittemore (May 26, 1933 – August 3, 1995) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, the author of five novels written between 1974 and 1987, including the highly praised series ''Jerusalem Quartet.'' He had started his career as a case officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations (Asia, Middle East and Europe) between 1958 and 1967.

Biography and writing career

The youngest of five children, Whittemore was born on May 26, 1933, in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

, US to John Cambridge Whittemore (1889–1958), a commercial district manager for the

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, and his wife Elizabeth Payson Whittemore (''née'' Prentiss; 1894–1985). He graduated from

Deering High School Deering High School (DHS) is a public high school located on Stevens Avenue in Portland, Maine, United States. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district. It is one of the three public high schools located in Portland, the other ...

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, in 1951, and went to

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

shortly after, where he obtained a degree in history. He joined the

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and served as an officer on a tour of duty in Japan. Approached by the relatively recently established

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

, he was recruited into the service, when it had many men from the Ivy League universities. Working undercover as a

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for ''

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'' from 1958 until 1967, Whittemore traveled throughout the

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, Europe and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. It was during this time that Whittemore began working on the novels for which he is probably best known. These constitute the '' Jerusalem Quartet.'' His earlier book, ''Quin's Shanghai Circus'' (1974), contains the seeds of his series.Joseph L. Winland, Jr., "Opening the Window to Edward Whittemore: Systems that Govern Human Experience"
MA Thesis (2010), Georgia State University His books received mixed reviews. Reviewing ''Quin's Shanghai Circus'' (1974), Jerome Charyn of ''

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'' praised Whittemore's "ability to mythologize our recent past, to turn history into a mode of fiction …" J.S. in ''

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'' said that he introduced "freakish impossibility" and that his book "lurched." Whittemore's ''Sinai Tapestry'' (1977) also received mixed reviews. Anthony Heilbut of ''

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'' compared him favorably to Pynchon, Nabokov and Fuentes, but argued that his writing was more "lucid" and that he achieved "the solidity of history itself." Erik Korn of ''Times Literary Supplement'' was much more critical. The second book of ''The Jerusalem Quartet'', ''Jerusalem Poker,'' was also roughly received by some. ''Harper's Magazine'' praised this novel as well as its "amplification" of the previous one. On the other hand,

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author and critic

Thomas M. Disch Thomas Michael Disch (February 2, 1940 – July 4, 2008) was an American science fiction writer and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book—previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book"—in 1999. He had two other Hugo nominations and n ...

gave ''Jerusalem Poker'' a very negative review in the ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', describing Whittemore as a ''

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'' version of Pynchon. He said that more enthusiastic appreciations were a "litany of

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

hype." He described Whittemore as an "anti-writer" with a "genteel poverty of imagination." Many writers and critics have lauded the novels' breadth and imaginative intensity in publications such as ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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'', ''

Locus Magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. ...

'' and ''

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''. The original editions failed to achieve commercial success; about 3,000

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and 10,000

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copies of each novel were sold. Whittemore was jealous of his privacy and refused to give interviews to "unknown correspondents," an attitude that hampered his publisher's promotion effort. Edward Whittemore spent the final years of his life in poverty. He died on August 3, 1995, in

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, shortly after being diagnosed with

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Reissues

Out of print for many years, all five books were reissued in 2002 by

Old Earth Books Old Earth Books is a speciality publisher which specializes in out-of-print and niche books, primarily in the science fiction genre. The name comes from the Cordwainer Smith ''Lords of the Instrumentality'' series. It is located in Baltimore, MD. ...

. The Old Earth Books editions are now out of print, bu
Open Road Media
announced plans to publish eBook editions of all five novels in July 2013.

Works

* ''Quin's Shanghai Circus'' (1974)

The Jerusalem Quartet

* '' Sinai Tapestry'' (1977) * '' Jerusalem Poker'' (1978) * '' Nile Shadows'' (1983) * ''

Jericho Mosaic Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. ...

'' (1987)

References

External links

Jerusalem Dreaming
a tribute site {{DEFAULTSORT:Whittemore, Edward 1933 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists United States Marine Corps officers Yale College alumni Writers from Manchester, New Hampshire Writers from Portland, Maine American expatriates in Israel 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Maine Deering High School alumni