Jonathan Samuel Carroll (born January 26, 1949) is an American fiction writer primarily known for novels that may be labelled

magic realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical re ...

slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or water) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving object, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is moving. The term slips ...

contemporary fantasy Contemporary fantasy is a genre, subgenre of fantasy set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenres, occult detective fiction, urban fantasy, low fantasy, supernatural fiction and paranormal fiction. Several authors note that ...

. He has lived in Austria since 1974.

Life and work

Carroll was born in New York City to Sidney Carroll, a film writer whose credits included '' The Hustler'', and

June Carroll June Carroll (1917 – May 16, 2004) was an American lyricist, singer and actress. Born June Sillman in Detroit, Michigan, Carroll appeared in the Broadway musical ''New Faces of 1952'', introducing the now-standard ''Guess Who I Saw Today'', by ...

(née Sillman), an actress and lyricist who appeared in numerous Broadway shows and two films. He is the half brother of composer

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

and nephew of Broadway producer Leonard Sillman. His parents were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, but Carroll was raised in the

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...

religion. A self-described "troubled teenager", he finished primary education at the Loomis School in Connecticut and graduated with honors from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1971, marrying artist Beverly Schreiner in the same year. He relocated to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria a few years later and began teaching literature at the American International School, and has made his home in Austria ever since. His first novel, '' The Land of Laughs'' (1980), is indicative of his general style and subject matter. Told through realistic

first person narration A first-person narrative (also known as a first-person perspective, voice, point of view, etc.) is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from that storyteller's own personal point of view, using first-person grammar suc ...

, the novel concerns a young schoolteacher, Thomas Abbey, researching the life of a favorite children's book author of his youth, which involves meeting the author's daughter in her and her late father's seemingly idyllic (fictitious) home town of Galen, Missouri. Everything seems fine until a dog in Galen begins talking to Abbey. The line gradually blurs between the fantasy world created by Abbey's research subject and the life of the people in Galen, while the reader begins to wonder just how much trust can be placed in this narrator. Subsequent novels would expand on these themes, but often contain

unreliable narrator In literature, film, and other such arts, an unreliable narrator is a narrator who cannot be trusted, one whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in a wide range from children to mature characters. While unreliable narrators are al ...

s in a world where magic is viewed as natural. (One commentator claimed in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' that "if he were a Latin American writer with a three-part name, his books would be described as magical-realist".) His son, Ryder Carroll, is the inventor of the

Bullet Journal A bullet journal (sometimes known as a BuJo) is a method of Personal organizer, personal organization developed by digital product designer Ryder Carroll. The bullet journal system organizes Schedule, scheduling, reminders, to-do lists, bra ...

Awards

Carroll's short story, "Friend's Best Man", won the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

. His novel, ''Outside the Dog Museum'' won the

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

and his collection of short stories won the

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

. The short story "Uh-Oh City" won the French Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire. His short story "Home on the Rain" was chosen as one of the best stories of the year by the Pushcart Prize committee. Carroll has been a runner-up for other World Fantasy Awards, the Hugo, and British Fantasy Awards.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Land of Laughs'' (1980) * ''Voice of Our Shadow'' (1983) *The Answered Prayers Sextet ** '' Bones of the Moon'' (1987) (slightly revised US edition, 1988) ** '' Sleeping in Flame'' (1988) – World Fantasy Award nominee, 1989 ** '' A Child Across the Sky'' (1989, ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' Book of the Year) – BSFA nominee, 1989; WFA and Clarke nominee, 1990 ** '' Outside the Dog Museum'' (1991) – British Fantasy Award winner, WFA nominee, 1992 ** '' After Silence'' (1992) ** '' From the Teeth of Angels'' (1994) – ''

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 ...

'' Notable Book; WFA nominee, 1995 * The Crane's View Trilogy ** '' Kissing The Beehive'' (1997) – British Fantasy Award nominee, 1999 ** '' The Marriage of Sticks'' (2000) – British Fantasy Award nominee, 2000 ** '' The Wooden Sea'' (2001, ''New York Times Book Review'' Notable Book) – Locus and World Fantasy Awards nominee, 2002 * '' White Apples'' (2002) – Locus and World Fantasy Awards nominee, 2003 * '' Glass Soup'' (2005) * '' Oko Dnia'' (''Eye of the Day'') (2006,

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

edition) * '' The Ghost in Love'' (2008) * '' Bathing the Lion'' (2014) * '' Mr. Breakfast'' (2019,

Polish Language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

edition) (2020,

Italian Language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

edition) (TBP Jan 17 2023,

English Language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

edition)

Novellas and short novels

* '' Black Cocktail'' (1990) * '' The Discovery of Running Bare'' (1992) In Dreams'' (Victor Gollancz Ltd, London). ">In_Dreams_(book).html" ;"title="ncluded in Paul J. McAuley and Kim Newman's SF and Horror fiction anthology, ''In Dreams (book)">In Dreams'' (Victor Gollancz Ltd, London). * ''The Heidelberg Cylinder'' (2000) [1000 copy limited edition, signed by Jonathan Carroll and cover artist Dave McKean. A few remaining copies left over from the print run were sold without signatures.] * ''Teaching the Dog to Read'' (2015)

Short story collections

* '' Die Panische Hand'' (1989) (German language edition) * '' The Panic Hand'' (1995) xpansion of the 1989 German language edition; the 1996 US edition adds the novella ''Black Cocktail''* '' The Woman Who Married A Cloud: Collected Stories'' (2012)

Nonfiction

*'' The Crow's Dinner'' (2017)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Jonathan 1949 births Living people American expatriates in Austria 20th-century American novelists American fantasy writers Rutgers University alumni World Fantasy Award–winning writers 21st-century American novelists Jewish American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Loomis Chaffee School alumni American weird fiction writers 21st-century American Jews