Walter Abish (December 24, 1931 – May 28, 2022) was an Austrian-born American author of experimental novels and short stories. He was conferred the

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living Americans, Green Card holders or permanent residents. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of ...

in 1981 and was awarded a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

six years later.

Early life

Abish was born in

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. ...

on December 24, 1931. His family was

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 ...

. His father, Adolph, worked as a

perfumer A perfumer is an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a ''nose'' () due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions. The perfumer is effectively an artist who is trained i ...

; his mother was Friedl (Rubin). At a young age, he fled with his family from the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, traveling first to Italy and

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

from 1940 to 1949. In 1949, they relocated to Israel, where Abish served in the army and developed an interest in writing. He settled in the United States in 1957 and became an American citizen three years later.

Career

Abish published his first novel, ''

Alphabetical Africa ''Alphabetical Africa'' is a constrained writing experiment by Walter Abish. It is written in the form of a novel. Writing in ''Esquire'', Harold Bloom put it on a list of 20th century novels that will endure. A paperback edition was issued in ...

'', in 1974. The book, whose first and last chapters employ only words starting with the letter "A", was characterized by

Richard Howard Richard Joseph Howard (October 13, 1929 – March 31, 2022), adopted as Richard Joseph Orwitz, was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a graduate of Columbia University, ...

in ''

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 ...

'' as "something more than a stunt, though a stunt it is." This was followed by his first collection of stories, ''Minds Meet'', a year later, with one story envisaging

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. His second collection, '' In the Future Perfect'', was released in 1977 and utilized words juxtaposed in unusual patterns to form alphanumeric games. Writing in ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...

'', Alfred Sims noted that, as in Abish's previous work, "Here again the old war horses of plot and narrative line are sacrificed in favor of reflections on the nature and use of language." Abish was conferred a literature fellowship by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

in 1979. He published a second novel, '' How German Is It'', the following year. Recognized as his most celebrated work, it garnered him the

in 1981. Of Abish's prose, the PEN/Faulkner judges ( William H. Gass, Tim O'Brien, Elizabeth Hardwick) said: "It helps keep the American novel alive in its time. The prose of this novel is as cold as snow in a storm and as driven." He also received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

(1981) and a

(1987), and sat on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal '' Conjunctions''. Abish's third collection, ''99: the New Meaning'', was released in 1990 as a "limited edition of five collagist stories". His last novel, '' Eclipse Fever'' (1993), received mixed reviews, with James Atlas describing its protagonist in ''The Times Book Review'' as "even for a literary critic, something of a bore". But

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Se ...

, reviewing the book in ''The Independent'', wrote: "Abish, unlike a populist film maker, doesn't simply produce snapshots to be passed among the mass. He tears treasured portraits from our culture's family album and thrusts them into his cunning slide carousel. Clicking from one page to the next, we reflect not on the death of literary fiction but on its vitality." Abish worked and taught at

Empire State College Empire State University (SUNY Empire) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State University is a multi-site institution offering associate degre ...

, Wheaton College,

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

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 ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, and

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

. He also served on the board of

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

from 1982 to 1988. He was on the board of governors for the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

. Abish was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1998.

Personal life

Abish married Cecile Gelb, a photographer and sculptor, in 1953. They remained married until his death. They did not have children. Abish died on May 28, 2022, at

Mount Sinai Beth Israel Mount Sinai Beth Israel was a 799-bed teaching hospital in Manhattan. It was part of the Mount Sinai Health System, a nonprofit health system formed in September 2013 by the merger of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center, and ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

at 90 years old.

Bibliography

* '' Duel Site'' – poetry, 1970 * ''

'' – novel, 1974 * '' Minds Meet'' – story collection, 1975 * '' In the Future Perfect'' – story collection, 1977 * '' How German Is It'' (''Wie deutsch ist es'') – novel, 1980 * '' 99: The New Meaning'' – story collection, 1990 * '' Eclipse Fever'' – novel, 1993 * '' Double Vision: A Self-Portrait'' – memoir, 2004

Awards

* 1972 – Fellow of

New Jersey State Council on the Arts The New Jersey State Council on the Arts was founded in 1966 to support artistic activities in the state of New Jersey. It is funded by the New Jersey State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the ...

* 1974 – Rose Isabel Williams Foundation grant * 1977 – Ingram Merrill Foundation grant * 1979 – Fellow of

* 1981 –

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

* 1981 – CAPS grant * 1981 –

* 1985 – Fellow of

''How German Is It'' * 1987 – Fellow of

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organisa ...

* 1987 –

MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

* 1991 –

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

Award of Merit Medal for the Novel * 1992 –

Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund The Wallace Foundation is a national philanthropic organization based in New York City that seeks to foster improvements in learning and enrichment for disadvantaged children and the vitality of the arts for everyone. The foundation aims to deve ...

fellowship

References

External links

"Sentimental Re-Education"

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', February 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Abish, Walter 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets Austrian emigrants to Israel Austrian expatriates in China Austrian expatriates in Italy MacArthur Fellows Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Empire State University faculty Columbia University faculty Brown University faculty Cooper Union faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners American male novelists American male short story writers American male poets Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from Massachusetts Novelists from New York (state) University at Buffalo faculty Wheaton College faculty Writers from Vienna Yale University faculty