Michael Brodsky

For the Ukrainian politician, see Mykhailo Brodskyy. For the Israeli diplomat, see Michael Brodsky (diplomat).
Michael Brodsky
Born (1948-08-02) August 2, 1948 (age 76)
New York City, United States
OccupationNovelist, Editor
NationalityAmerican
Literary movementPostmodernism
Notable worksXman,
***
Website
webdelsol.com/4Walls8Windows/Michael_Brodsky

Michael Mark Brodsky (born Aug 2, 1948[1][2]) is a scientific/medical editor, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels Xman and ***, as well as for his translation of Samuel Beckett's Eleuthéria.

Early life and education

Michael Brodsky was born in New York City, the son of Martin and Marian Brodsky. He attended the Bronx High School of Science.[3] He received a 1969 BA from Columbia College, Columbia University, taught math and science in New York for a year, attended Case Western Reserve University medical school for two years, then taught French and English in Cleveland until 1975.[3]

Brodsky returned to New York City in 1976, working as an editor for the Institute for Research on Rheumatic Diseases. He married Laurence Lacoste.[4] They are the parents of two children, Joseph Matthew and Matthew Daniel. From 1985 to 1991, Brodsky was an editor with Springer-Verlag. After 1991, he was with the United Nations.[5]

Brodsky lives on Roosevelt Island.[6]

Bibliography

Novels

Short stories

  • Wedding Feast, 1981
  • Project, 1982
  • X in Paris, 1988
  • Three Goat Songs, 1991
  • Southernmost, 1996
  • Limit Point, 2007

Plays

  • Terrible Sunlight, 1980
  • Packet Piece, 1982
  • No Packet Piece, 1982
  • Dose Center, 1990
  • Night of the Chair, 1990
  • Six Scenes: A Barracks Brawl, 1994
  • The Anti-Muse, reading 1996, performance 2000

Translation

Nonfiction

  • "Svevo: The Artist as Analyzand", Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, 15 no. 2-3 (1977), pp 112–133.
  • "Toward the Plane of the Sacred: Hafftka’s Great Chain of Being" essay in the catalogue for Michael Hafftka "A Retrospective: Large Oils 1985-2003" (2004).[7]

Further reading

A short biography, and brief summaries of Brodsky's longer fiction and critical reception can be found here:

  • Herman, Peter G., "Michael Brodsky", World Authors, 1995-2000 Ed. Clifford Thompson and Mari Rich. New York: H. W. Wilson Company (2003). pp 113–115.
  • Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, vol 147 (2006) pp 56–8.

Brief summaries of his shorter fiction, critical reception, and quotations from Brodsky on his own fiction, can be found here:

  • Hawley, John C., "Michael Brodsky (2 August 1948-)", American Short-Story Writers Since World War II, Fourth Series. Ed. Patrick Meanor and Joseph McNicholas. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 244. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. pp 34–39. Online here.

References

CANRS refers to Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, and DLB refers to Dictionary of Literary Biography. Full citations are above.

  1. ^ This is taken from World Authors, 1995-2000, CANRS 147, DLB 244. Brodsky's first two books give his birth year as 1951, later books give 1948.
  2. ^ See also CANRS 147 and DLB 244, cited above.
  3. ^ a b Detour, author information
  4. ^ 11/28/1976, as given in DLB 244 and CANRS 147
  5. ^ all other information, these two paragraphs, is from World Authors 1995-2000 or DLB 244 or CANRS 147
  6. ^ CANRS 147, and Zeek magazine.
  7. ^ Hafftka was the illustrator (cover and some internal) for Brodsky's early fiction, and later for Limit Point.