Mark Jay Mirsky
Encyclopedia
Mark Jay Mirsky is an American writer and professor of English at City College of New York
.
His first three novels (Thou Worm Jacob, Proceedings of the Rabble, and Blue Hill Avenue) present a humorous and scathing portrait of the Jewish community of and around Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester
. He also published a pair of novellas under the name The Secret Table. The first story, "Dorchester, Home and Garden," deals with a man who returns to the burnt-out Jewish district on Blue Hill Avenue, and the second, "Onan's Child", is a retelling of the biblical story of Onan
.
Mirsky's later, more experimental, works include The Red Adam, a novel written in the form of a "discovered" document unearthed in a Massachusetts
library sometime in the 1940s. Mirsky also wrote several books of nonfiction including My Search for the Messiah: Studies and Wanderings in Israel and America and The Absent Shakespeare
. His latest book, Dante
, Eros, and Kabbalah
, is a combination of literary criticism, Jewish mysticism and personal narrative.
Mirsky has also edited, and wrote the introduction for, Diaries: Robert Musil
1899-1942, and published several works and articles in The Partisan Review, New Directions Annual, The Boston Sunday Globe, and The New York Times
Book Review. He is currently the editor of Fiction
,a literary magazine at City College which he founded in 1972 with Donald Barthelme
and Max Frisch
.
Recently, one of Mirsky's plays, Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, was performed as part of the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival.
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
.
His first three novels (Thou Worm Jacob, Proceedings of the Rabble, and Blue Hill Avenue) present a humorous and scathing portrait of the Jewish community of and around Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
. He also published a pair of novellas under the name The Secret Table. The first story, "Dorchester, Home and Garden," deals with a man who returns to the burnt-out Jewish district on Blue Hill Avenue, and the second, "Onan's Child", is a retelling of the biblical story of Onan
Onan
Onan is a minor biblical person in the Book of Genesis , who was the second son of Judah. Just like his older brother, Er, Onan died prematurely by YHWH's will for being wicked....
.
Mirsky's later, more experimental, works include The Red Adam, a novel written in the form of a "discovered" document unearthed in a Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
library sometime in the 1940s. Mirsky also wrote several books of nonfiction including My Search for the Messiah: Studies and Wanderings in Israel and America and The Absent Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. His latest book, Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
, Eros, and Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, is a combination of literary criticism, Jewish mysticism and personal narrative.
Mirsky has also edited, and wrote the introduction for, Diaries: Robert Musil
Robert Musil
Robert Musil was an Austrian writer. His unfinished long novel The Man Without Qualities is generally considered to be one of the most important modernist novels...
1899-1942, and published several works and articles in The Partisan Review, New Directions Annual, The Boston Sunday Globe, and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Book Review. He is currently the editor of Fiction
Fiction Magazine
Fiction is a literary magazine founded in 1972 by Mark Jay Mirsky, Donald Barthelme, and Max Frisch. It is published by the City College of New York....
,a literary magazine at City College which he founded in 1972 with Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme was an American author known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, managing editor of Location magazine, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston , co-founder of Fiction Donald...
and Max Frisch
Max Frisch
Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political...
.
Recently, one of Mirsky's plays, Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, was performed as part of the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival.
External links
- Mark Mirsky about 9/11
- Interview about Dante, Eros and Kabbalah - at The Brooklyn RailThe Brooklyn RailThe Brooklyn Rail is a political, artistic and literary magazine based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Coverage includes political andliterary essays, art criticism, interviews, original fiction and poetry, and reviews....
. - Review of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard - at NY Theatre.