David Markson

David Markson
Markson in September 2007
Markson in September 2007
Born(1927-12-20)December 20, 1927
Albany, New York, U.S.
Died(body found) June 4, 2010(2010-06-04) (aged 82)
Greenwich Village, New York, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
EducationColumbia University (MA)
Periodpostmodern
Genreexperimental fiction
Years active1956 – 2007
Notable worksGoing Down, Springer's Progress, Wittgenstein's Mistress, Reader's Block, This Is Not A Novel, Vanishing Point, The Last Novel

David Merrill Markson (December 20, 1927 – c. June 4, 2010)[1] was an American novelist. He was the author of several postmodern novels, including Springer's Progress, Wittgenstein's Mistress, and Reader's Block. His final book, The Last Novel, published in 2007, was called "a real tour de force" by The New York Times.[2]

Markson's work is characterized by an unconventional and experimental approach to narrative, character development and plot. The late writer David Foster Wallace hailed Wittgenstein's Mistress as "pretty much the high point of experimental fiction in this country".[3] While his early works draw on the modernist tradition of William Faulkner and Malcolm Lowry, his later novels are, in Markson's words, "literally crammed with literary and artistic anecdotes" and "nonlinear, discontinuous, collage-like, an assemblage."[4]

In addition to his output of modernist and postmodernist experimental literature, he published a book of poetry,[5] a critical study of Malcolm Lowry,[6] three crime novels, and an anti-Western, The Ballad of Dingus Magee, adapted into the film Dirty Dingus Magee, starring Frank Sinatra.[7]

  1. ^ Legacy.com Featured Tribute: David Markson as of June 7, 2010, when this article was published, the exact time of Markson's death is not known. This article states that his body was found on June 4, 2010
  2. ^ Texier, Catherine (July 8, 2007). "Old. Tired. Sick. Alone. Broke". New York Times.
  3. ^ David Foster Wallace. "[1]", Salon, April 12, 1999. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  4. ^ "Bookslut interview with David Markson". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2006-06-14.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Niagara Falls Reporter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "David Markson Bibliography". Archived from the original on 2012-07-15.
  7. ^ "IMDB page for Dirty Dingus Magee". IMDb.