Myron Brinig (December 22, 1896 – May 13, 1991) was an American author who wrote 22 novels from 1929 to 1958.

Biography

Early life and education

Brinig was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

to Romanian-Jewish parents, but grew up in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the 2 ...

. Brinig began studying at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1914, where poet

Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American people, American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees (poem), Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in ...

gave him lectures on writing. He then studied at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and started his career by writing short stories for magazines. Brinig's first novel, ''Madonna Without Child'', was released in 1929. Published by

Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...

, the novel tells the story of a woman who is obsessed with another woman's baby.

Career

Many of Brinig's early novels depicted the settlement and development of Montana, the state he grew up in. These novels include ''Singermann'' (1929), ''Wide Open Town'' (1931), ''This Man Is My Brother'' (1932), and ''The Sun Sets in the West'' (1935). Brinig based the main character of these novels, Singermann, on his father, Moses Brinig, who was a Romanian immigrant and

shopkeeper A shopkeeper is a retail merchant or tradesman; one who owns or operates a small store or shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as such. At larger companies, a shopkeeper is usually referred t ...

. Brinig's novels often depicted miners, labor organizers, farmers, and businessmen living in Montana. These usually became bestsellers in the United States and were praised by critics of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. One of the best-selling novels, ''The Sisters'', was adapted to a feature-length film in 1938, starring

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

and

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...

. Brinig's novels often dealt with homosexuality. It was a common theme for Brinig because he was a homosexual himself (although he was publicly

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

all his life). According to the Gay & Lesbian Literary Heritage, Brinig was the "first American Jewish novelist to write in any significant way about the gay experience." In 1951, ''

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 ...

'' said Brinig's "sentimental streak and his sympathetic touch with characters usually lend his books a warm glow of humanity, if not of art." At the beginning of his career, Brinig was praised by critics for his "artistry and inventivenss in narrative, character and incident." In the early 1930s, he was described as one of the leading young writers in America. Brinig's last novels, however, were met with mixed reviews from critics, who criticized them for their "verbosity and banality." Brinig died on May 13, 1991. The cause of his death was

gastrointestinal hemorrhage Gastrointestinal bleeding (GI bleed), also called gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIB), is all forms of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the rectum. When there is significant blood loss over a short time, symptoms may includ ...

Works

Novels # ''Madonna Without Child'' (1929) # ''Singermann'' (1929) # ''Anthony In The Nude'' (1930) # ''Copper City'' (1931) # ''Wide Open Town'' (1931; reissued 1993) # ''This Man Is My Brother'' (1932) # ''The Flutter of an Eyelid'' (1933; reissued 2020) # ''Out of Life'' (1934) # ''The Sun Sets in the West'' (1935) # ''The Sisters'' (1937) # ''May Flavin'' (1938) # ''Anne Minton's Life'' (1939) # ''All of Their Lives'' (1941) # ''The Family Way'' (1942) # ''The Gambler Tales a Wife'' (1943) # ''You and I'' (1945) # ''Hour of Nightfall'' (1947) # ''No Marriage in Paradise'' (1949) # ''Footsteps on the Stairs'' (1950) # ''The Sadness in Lexington Avenue'' (1951) # ''Street of the Three Friends'' (1953) # ''The Looking Glass Heart'' (1958)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinig, Myron American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Jewish American novelists Gay Jews LGBTQ people from Minnesota LGBTQ people from Montana New York University alumni Columbia University alumni 1896 births 1991 deaths Writers from Minneapolis People from Butte, Montana Writers from Montana Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage American LGBTQ novelists American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Minnesota 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American LGBTQ people