Donald Barthelme facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Donald Barthelme
Born	(1931-04-07)April 7, 1931 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Died	July 23, 1989(1989-07-23) (aged 58) Houston, Texas, US
Occupation	Writer, professor
Period	1961–1989
Genre	Short story
Literary movement	Postmodern literature
Relatives	Donald Barthelme Sr.

Donald Barthelme (pronounced BAR-thəl-mee or BAR-təl-mee; April 7, 1931 – July 23, 1989) was an American writer. He was especially famous for his short stories. He wrote in a unique, playful style called postmodernism.

Besides writing, Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter. He was an editor for a magazine and directed an art museum. He also taught at several universities. He even helped start the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston.

Life Story

Donald Barthelme was born in Philadelphia in 1931. His family moved to Texas when he was two years old. His father became a professor at the University of Houston. Donald later studied journalism there. In 1949, while in high school, he won an award for a short story.

In 1951, he started writing for the Houston Post newspaper. Two years later, he joined the U.S. Army. He went to Korea on the very day the Korean War ended. He worked as an editor for an Army newspaper. After returning home, he went back to the Houston Post. He also continued studying philosophy at the University of Houston. He never finished his degree, but he loved listening to jazz music in Houston. This music later influenced his writing.

Donald had a challenging relationship with his father. They often disagreed about art and literature. Even though his father was interested in new art, he didn't like the modern writing style Donald enjoyed.

Barthelme taught writing for short times at different universities. These included Boston University and the City College of New York. His brothers, Frederick and Steven, are also well-known writers.

Family Life

Donald Barthelme had two daughters. His first daughter, Anne, was with his third wife, Birgit. His second daughter, Katharine, was with his last wife, Marion. Donald and Marion were married until he passed away. He died in 1989 from throat cancer.

His Writing Career

In 1961, Donald Barthelme became the director of an art museum. That same year, he published his first short story. In 1963, his story "L'Lapse" appeared in The New Yorker magazine. This magazine published many of his early works.

His first story published in The New Yorker was "Me and Miss Mandible." It was about a 35-year-old man sent back to elementary school. Another early story, "A Shower of Gold," was about a sculptor on a strange game show.

In 1964, Barthelme collected his early stories in a book called Come Back, Dr. Caligari. People praised him for being a new and exciting short story writer. His style was unique. He often put famous characters in silly or unexpected situations. This style inspired many other writers.

He continued writing successful short stories. These were collected in books like Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts (1968). One famous story from this book is "The Balloon." In this story, a giant, uneven balloon appears over Manhattan. Children love to play on it. Adults try to find a deep meaning in it, but they are confused. The story shows how people react differently to unusual things.

Barthelme wrote over a hundred more short stories. They were published in collections like City Life (1970) and Sadness (1972). Many of these stories were later put into bigger collections like Sixty Stories (1981).

Even though he was known for short stories, he also wrote four novels. These included Snow White (1967) and The Dead Father (1975).

He also wrote a non-fiction book called Guilty Pleasures (1974). With his daughter, he wrote a children's book. It was called The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine. This book won a National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1972. Barthelme was also a member of important writing organizations.

His Unique Style

Some people loved Barthelme's writing, calling it very clever. Others found it confusing or meaningless. Barthelme's stories often didn't follow a normal plot. Instead, they built up with many small, unrelated details. He would often use unexpected twists. This made his stories feel like a collection of different pieces, like a collage.

Critics often called him a postmodernist writer. This is because he used humor and didn't believe art could fix society. He liked to play with the meanings of words. He also used illustrations in his stories. He would cut out pictures from old books and add funny captions. He called this "a secret vice gone public."

Barthelme's influence continues at the University of Houston. He helped start their famous Creative Writing Program. He was known as a kind and encouraging teacher to young writers. One of his students, Thomas Cobb, even based a character on Barthelme in his novel Crazy Heart.

Writers He Admired

Donald Barthelme often talked about writers who influenced him. He especially admired Samuel Beckett. He said Beckett was "overwhelmed by Joyce," just as he was by Beckett. Here are some of the writers he liked:

Barthelme was also interested in many modern artists.

Selected Works

Story Collections

• Come Back, Dr. Caligari – Little, Brown, 1964
• Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968
• City Life – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1970
• Sadness – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1972
• Amateurs – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976
• Great Days – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979
• Overnight to Many Distant Cities – Putnam, 1983
• Sam's Bar (with illustrations by Seymour Chwast) – Doubleday, 1987
• Sixty Stories – Putnam, 1981
• Forty Stories – Putnam, 1987
• Flying to America: 45 More Stories – Shoemaker & Hoard, 2007
• Donald Barthelme: Collected Stories (Edited By Charles McGrath) – Library Of America, 2021

Non-fiction

• Guilty Pleasures (non-fiction) – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974

Novels

• Snow White – Atheneum Books, 1967
• The Dead Father – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975
• Paradise – Putnam, 1986
• The King – Harper, 1990

Other Works

• A Manual for Sons (part of The Dead Father)
• The Teachings of Don B.: Satires, Parodies, Fables, Illustrated Stories, and Plays of Donald Barthelme, edited by Kim Herzinger – Turtle Bay Books, 1992
• Not-Knowing: The Essays and Interviews of Donald Barthelme, edited by Kim Herzinger – Random House, 1997
• The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine, or the Hithering Thithering Djinn (children's book), Farrar, Straus, 1971

Awards

• Guggenheim Fellowship, 1966
• Time magazine Best Books of the Year list, 1971, for City Life
• National Book Award, Children's Books, 1972, for The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine or the Hithering Thithering Djinn
• Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1972
• Jesse H Jones Award from Texas Institute of Letters, 1976, for The Dead Father
• Nominated for National Book Critics Circle Award, PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, all for Sixty Stories, all in 1982
• Rea Award for the Short Story, 1988

See also

In Spanish: Donald Barthelme para niños