His 2015 memoir smash cut recounts life in 1970s and 1980s new york city, including the time gooch spent. Smash cut is an eloquent, deeply felt exploration of love and ambition in dangerous times. New york times 100 notable books of 2009 fiction and nonfiction. I suppose i can always come back to them in 50 years if i live that long, and if civilization still persists. In this breakthrough biography, brad gooch brilliantly brings to life the man and puts a face to the name rumi, vividly coloring in his time and placea world as rife with conflict as our own. New york times 100 notable books of 2009 fiction and. A life of flannery oconnor, aims to produce a continuous biographical narrative out of rumis life and to make his. Follow new york times books on facebook, twitter and instagram, sign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar. The nobelwinning economist who wants you to read more fiction. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of stats perform is strictly prohibited. Gooch, whose literary output includes biographies of frank ohara and flannery oconnor, three novels and other nonfiction, leads a far more stable and traditional life than that of his youth.
National book critics circle finalists are announced the. A life of flannery oconnor into the following lists. A life of flannery oconnor, aims to produce a continuous biographical narrative out of rumis life and to make his spiritual journey intelligible to the people who buy the watereddown version of rumi printed on shower curtains. Sally rooneys attention span has improved the new york times. Gooch, a novelist and poet whose books also include flannery.
Brad gooch and maryam mortaz, everymans library, 2019. Gooch traces this epic journey from central asia, where rumi was born in 1207, traveling with his family, displaced by mongol terror, to settle in konya, turkey. But brad gooch s biography strives to make it all quite normal under the circumstances. I know of no books written by zombies, the title character of brad gooch s new novel giddily. Brad gooch, the author of the acclaimed city poet, returns with a searing memoir of life in 1980s new york city. Gooch charts the progress of brookner through his illness, and writes unforgettably about endings. In the gritty new york of the 70s and 80s, not exactly a. Gooch, who reaffirms the discerning taste he demonstrated in his 1993 biography of the poet frank ohara, is an unusually patient acolyte. His 2015 memoir smash cut recounts life in 1970s and 1980s new york city. A life of flannery oconnor little, brown, 2009, which was a national book critics circle award finalist, a new york times notable book of the year, and a new york times bestseller.
Editors and writers on the books desk along with colleagues from the newsroom recommend some timetested books that offer escape. The life and times of frank ohara, he would seem a curious choice to address the theological tragicomic thickets of her work and brave the vast repository of oconnoriana. As for biographies, there wont be any biographies of. The acclaimed new york times bestselling author of smash cut, flannery, and city poet delivers the first popular biography of rumi, the thirteenthcentury persian poet revered by contemporary western. Oneills parents moved around much in oneills youth. Book excerpt ablock, probably the largest freestanding cellblock in the world, is 588 feet long, twelve feet shy of the length of two football fields. The national book critics circle announced the finalists for its 2009 book awards on saturday night at housing works bookstore cafe in new york. The temptation to hang up was trumped by knowing id only have to start over. Gooch and his boyfriend howard brookner met nine years after, and one block away. Gooch s biography of flannery oconnor is a beautiful testament to one of the greatest shortstory writers of the 20th century. Jane gross the new old age blog the new york times.
But brad gooch s biography strives to make it all quite normal under the circumstances, of course. A life of flannery oconnor, which was a finalist for a national book critics circle award in biography, a new york. Suggested reading from critics and editors at the new york times. Authoritatively ranked lists of books sold in the united states, sorted by format and genre. A history of the morbid, musical, quarrelsome, brilliant wittgensteins. Jennifer gooch hummer is the awardwinning author and screenwriter for her debut novel, girl unmoored, which has been optioned for film. Gooch is currently a professor of english at william paterson university in new jersey. The life of the sufi poet of love by brad gooch new york times bestselling author of flannery, by brad gooch on. Brad gooch is a poet, novelist, and biographer, whose most recent book is rumis secret. A life of flannery oconnor, published in 2009, chose the oconnors own words as the book s epigraph. Gooch is a stylish writer and his crisp, cinematic dialogue keeps scary kisses from becoming just another peek at the lurid sex lives of those who have enlisted in the glamour professionsan utterly realistic and classy chronicle of their type and time. An irreverent escapade is a 1955 novel by american author patrick dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, patrick, growing up as the ward of the sister of his dead father, his aunt mame dennis the book. New york times ten best books of 2009 are in fiction. Some years ago, shortly after i came to the times, i overheard a colleague disparaging flannery oconnors fiction.
Finding comfort in the classics the new york times. Gooch, whose literary output includes biographies of frank ohara and flannery oconnor, three novels and other nonfiction, leads a far more stable and traditional life than that of his. Far from simply writing the story of oconnors life, gooch. He first expressed interest in writing an oconnor biography nearly three decades.
Gooch anthony cushing tony, born december 3, 1937, amarillo, tx, died of complications from cancer at his home in manhattan on january 24, 2017. The board and staff of the new york botanical garden offer their condolences to florence davis, a dear friend and garden trustee, on the death of her husband, anthony gooch. Witty, obsessed and almost inhumanly brave, flannery oconnor was peculiar, her work even more so. Book 1 of the fair city files, is a kirkus best books. Joseph oneill was born in cork, ireland, on 23 february 1964. A life of flannery oconnor, which was a national book critics circle award finalist, a new york times notable book of the year, and a new york times bestseller. We use cookies to recognize your repeat visits and preferences, as. Janet maslin, new york times goochs biography is a marvel of concision but skimps on nothing if oconnors writing glows with edged comic genius, biographer gooch is himself no slouch. Rankings on weekly lists reflect sales for the week. Brad gooch is a poet, novelist, and biographer, whose most recent books are rumis secret. If a library is to have only one book on flannery oconnor, this should be it.
Anthony gooch obituary new york, ny new york times. Brad gooch arrived in new york in the 1970s, eager for artistic and personal freedom. This philosophy is a yearround commonsense approach. The acclaimed new york times bestselling author of smash cut, flannery, and city poet delivers the first popular biography of rumi, the thirteenthcentury persian poet revered by. In a new memoir, brad gooch recalls gay new york in the heady and turbulent 1970s and early 80s, a time of promiscuity and elebration that quickly turned to fear, paranoia, and anguish. February 27, 1949 tragedy and the common man by arthur miller n this age few tragedies are written.