William T. Vollmann
Encyclopedia
William Tanner Vollmann is an American
novel
ist, journalist
, short story
writer, essay
ist and winner of the National Book Award
. He lives in Sacramento
, California
, with his wife and daughter.
, then earned a B.A.
, summa cum laude
, in comparative literature
at Cornell University
.
In his youth, Vollmann's younger sister drowned while under his supervision, a tragedy for which he felt responsible. This experience, according to him, influences much of his work.
After graduation, Vollmann went on to the University of California, Berkeley, on a fellowship for a doctoral program in Comparative Literature. He dropped out after one year with the intention of engaging in life instead of just studying. He worked odd jobs, including as a secretary at an insurance company, and saved up enough money to go to Afghanistan
in 1982. His experiences traveling with the mujahideen
formed the basis of his first non-fiction book An Afghanistan Picture Show, or, How I Saved the World which was not published until 1992. Upon his return to the USA he worked as a computer programmer, despite having virtually no experience with computers. According to a New York Times Magazine
profile by novelist Madison Smartt Bell
, he spent the better part of a year there writing his first novel, You Bright and Risen Angels
, after hours on office computers, subsisting on candy bars from vending machines and hiding from the janitorial staff.
He has written for Harper's
, Playboy
, Conjunctions
, Spin Magazine, Esquire
, The New Yorker
, Gear
, Granta
, and sometimes contributes to The New York Times Book Review
among other publications. Vollmann has called himself a "hack journalist" and his travel writing and reportage are often done during research for his fiction or non-fiction projects, giving it a hybridized and journalistic feel.
In November 2003 (after many delays) McSweeney's
published Rising Up and Rising Down
, a 3,300-page, heavily illustrated, seven-volume treatise on violence which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award
. A single-volume condensed version was published at the end of the following year by Ecco Press
, an abridgment he justified by saying, "I did it for the money." Rising Up and Rising Down represents over 20 years of work and attempts to establish a moral calculus to consider the causes, effects, and ethics of violence. Much of it consists of Vollmann's own reporting from places wracked by violence, among them Cambodia
, Somalia
, and Iraq
.
Vollmann's other works often deal with the settlement of North America
(as in Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes
, a cycle of seven novels), or stories of people (often prostitutes) on the margins of war, poverty, and hope. His 2005 novel Europe Central
follows the trajectories of a wide range of characters (including Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich
) caught up in the fighting between Germany
and the Soviet Union
, and won the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction.
In 2008, he was awarded a five-year fellowship/grant from the Strauss Living Award, that gives writers of note $50,000 a year, tax free. In 2010, Vollmann published a critical study of Japanese Noh Theater, entitled Kissing the Mask: Beauty, Understatement, and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater.
Vollmann is currently writing a collection of erotic love stories (one of which, "Widow’s Weeds", was published in AGNI
#66 in 2007) and the fourth and fifth volumes of the Seven Dreams series. In interviews, he has mentioned a book about abortion called The Shame of Our Youth as well as a study on rape cases in court.
Vollmann's papers were acquired by the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library of Ohio State University
.
Full-length critical essays have been published in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, BookForum, Open Letters Monthly, and Science Fiction Studies. In 2010, the German magazine 032c
dedicated 40 pages of its 19th issue to Vollmann, and featured a rare interview with the author in addition to reprinted texts.
Michael Hemmingson
co-edited, with Larry McCaffery
, Expelled from Eden: A WTV Reader (NY: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004) and published William T. Vollmann: A Critical Study and Seven Interviews (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co) in 2009.
The Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
ist and winner of the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
. He lives in Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, with his wife and daughter.
Biography
Vollmann studied at Deep Springs CollegeDeep Springs College
Deep Springs is a private, all-male , alternative college in Deep Springs, California, in the United States. A two-year college, the institution currently aims for a student body size of 26, though the number is occasionally lower...
, then earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, summa cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
, in comparative literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
.
In his youth, Vollmann's younger sister drowned while under his supervision, a tragedy for which he felt responsible. This experience, according to him, influences much of his work.
After graduation, Vollmann went on to the University of California, Berkeley, on a fellowship for a doctoral program in Comparative Literature. He dropped out after one year with the intention of engaging in life instead of just studying. He worked odd jobs, including as a secretary at an insurance company, and saved up enough money to go to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in 1982. His experiences traveling with the mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
formed the basis of his first non-fiction book An Afghanistan Picture Show, or, How I Saved the World which was not published until 1992. Upon his return to the USA he worked as a computer programmer, despite having virtually no experience with computers. According to a New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
profile by novelist Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell is an American novelist. He was raised Nashville, and lived in New York, and London before settling in Baltimore, Maryland....
, he spent the better part of a year there writing his first novel, You Bright and Risen Angels
You Bright and Risen Angels
You Bright and Risen Angels is a 1987 novel by William T. Vollmann, detailing a fictional war between insects and the forces of modern civilization. Vollmann described the book, his first, as "an allegory in part", inspired by his experiences with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The novel is...
, after hours on office computers, subsisting on candy bars from vending machines and hiding from the janitorial staff.
He has written for Harper's
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, Conjunctions
Conjunctions
Conjunctions, is a biannual American literary journal based at Bard College. It was founded in 1981 and is currently edited by Bradford Morrow....
, Spin Magazine, Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Gear
Gear (magazine)
Gear was an English language lad's mag published by Bob Guccione, Jr. in the United Kingdom devoted chiefly to revealing pictorials of popular singers, B-movie actresses, and models, along with articles on gadgets, cars, fashion, guy tales of sex, and sports.Gear debuted in September 1998, with...
, Granta
Granta
Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...
, and sometimes contributes to The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
among other publications. Vollmann has called himself a "hack journalist" and his travel writing and reportage are often done during research for his fiction or non-fiction projects, giving it a hybridized and journalistic feel.
In November 2003 (after many delays) McSweeney's
McSweeney's
McSweeney's is an American publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers.Apart from its book list, McSweeney's is responsible for four regular publications: the quarterly literary journal,...
published Rising Up and Rising Down
Rising Up and Rising Down
Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means is a seven-volume treatise on the subject of violence by American author William T. Vollmann. First published by McSweeney's in November 2003, it was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award...
, a 3,300-page, heavily illustrated, seven-volume treatise on violence which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
. A single-volume condensed version was published at the end of the following year by Ecco Press
Ecco Press
Ecco Press is a publishing imprint of HarperCollins, who acquired it in 1999. It was founded in 1971 by Daniel Halpern as an independent publishing company. Until 1994 the press was the publisher of the literary magazine Antaeus.- External links :**...
, an abridgment he justified by saying, "I did it for the money." Rising Up and Rising Down represents over 20 years of work and attempts to establish a moral calculus to consider the causes, effects, and ethics of violence. Much of it consists of Vollmann's own reporting from places wracked by violence, among them Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
Vollmann's other works often deal with the settlement of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
(as in Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes
Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes
Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes is a series of novels by William T. Vollmann about the settlement of North America and the conflicts between natives and settlers. Each volume focuses on a different historical expedition in North America...
, a cycle of seven novels), or stories of people (often prostitutes) on the margins of war, poverty, and hope. His 2005 novel Europe Central
Europe Central
Europe Central is a 2005 National Book Award-winning novel by William T. Vollmann.The novel, which takes place in central Europe in the 20th century, examines a vast array of characters, ranging from generals to martyrs, officers to poets, traitors to artists and musicians...
follows the trajectories of a wide range of characters (including Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
) caught up in the fighting between Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and won the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction.
In 2008, he was awarded a five-year fellowship/grant from the Strauss Living Award, that gives writers of note $50,000 a year, tax free. In 2010, Vollmann published a critical study of Japanese Noh Theater, entitled Kissing the Mask: Beauty, Understatement, and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater.
Vollmann is currently writing a collection of erotic love stories (one of which, "Widow’s Weeds", was published in AGNI
AGNI (magazine)
AGNI is an American literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, interviews, and artwork twice a year in print and biweekly online from its home at Boston University...
#66 in 2007) and the fourth and fifth volumes of the Seven Dreams series. In interviews, he has mentioned a book about abortion called The Shame of Our Youth as well as a study on rape cases in court.
Vollmann's papers were acquired by the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library of Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
.
Full-length critical essays have been published in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, BookForum, Open Letters Monthly, and Science Fiction Studies. In 2010, the German magazine 032c
032c
032c magazine is an English-language, bi-annual contemporary culture magazine that covers art, fashion, and politics. The magazine is published in Berlin....
dedicated 40 pages of its 19th issue to Vollmann, and featured a rare interview with the author in addition to reprinted texts.
Michael Hemmingson
Michael Hemmingson
Michael Hemmingson is a novelist, short story writer, literary critic, cultural anthropologist, qualitative researcher, playwright, and screenwriter.-Publishing History:...
co-edited, with Larry McCaffery
Larry McCaffery
Lawrence F. "Larry" McCaffery Jr. is a literary critic, editor, and retired professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University...
, Expelled from Eden: A WTV Reader (NY: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004) and published William T. Vollmann: A Critical Study and Seven Interviews (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co) in 2009.
Theses and dissertations
- Andersen, Allen S. William T. Vollmann: An Annotated Bibliography. San Diego State University, 1996.
- Soloff, Edward. Transformations in "Seven Dreams: a book of North American Landscapes" by William T. Vollmann University of New York at Stony Brook, 1999.
- Lybarger, Jeremy. Black & White: The Violent Humor of William T. Vollmann's The Rainbow Stories. New York University, 2008.
Novels & Collections
- You Bright and Risen AngelsYou Bright and Risen AngelsYou Bright and Risen Angels is a 1987 novel by William T. Vollmann, detailing a fictional war between insects and the forces of modern civilization. Vollmann described the book, his first, as "an allegory in part", inspired by his experiences with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The novel is...
(1987) - The Rainbow Stories (1989) (themed anthology)
- 13 Stories and 13 Epitaphs (1991) (collection)
- The AtlasThe Atlas (novel)The Atlas is a 1996 semi-autobiographical work by American novelist William T. Vollmann.A mixture of fiction and non-fiction, this book was drawn from Vollmann's experiences traveling around the world...
(1996) (themed anthology) - Europe CentralEurope CentralEurope Central is a 2005 National Book Award-winning novel by William T. Vollmann.The novel, which takes place in central Europe in the 20th century, examines a vast array of characters, ranging from generals to martyrs, officers to poets, traitors to artists and musicians...
(2005)
The Seven Dreams: A Book of North American LandscapesSeven Dreams: A Book of North American LandscapesSeven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes is a series of novels by William T. Vollmann about the settlement of North America and the conflicts between natives and settlers. Each volume focuses on a different historical expedition in North America...
Cycle
- The Ice-ShirtThe Ice-ShirtThe Ice-Shirt is a 1990 historical novel by American author William T. Vollmann. It is the first book in a seven-book series called Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes.-Fact, Fiction, Meta-fiction:...
(1990) (Volume One) - Fathers and CrowsFathers and CrowsFathers and Crows is a 1992 historical novel by American author William T. Vollmann. It is the second book in a seven-book series called Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes....
(1992) (Volume Two) - ArgallArgall: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John SmithArgall is a historical novel by American writer William T. Vollmann, which was first published in 2001. It is the third book in a planned seven-book cycle entitled Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes...
: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith (2001) (Volume Three) - The RiflesThe Rifles (novel)The Rifles is a 1994 novel by American writer William T. Vollmann. It is intended to be the sixth book in a planned seven-book cycle entitled Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes...
(1994) (Volume Six)
The "Prostitution Trilogy"
- Whores for Gloria (1991)
- Butterfly Stories: A Novel (1993)
- The Royal FamilyThe Royal Family (novel)The Royal Family is a novel by the American author William T. Vollmann. The novel centers Henry Tyler's private investigative work and then personal desire to find the mysterious Queen of Whores, the matriarch of the prostitutes in the area of Tenderloin, San Francisco.-Structure:The novel is...
(2000)
Non-fiction
- An Afghanistan Picture Show: Or, How I Saved the World (1992)
- Rising Up and Rising DownRising Up and Rising DownRising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means is a seven-volume treatise on the subject of violence by American author William T. Vollmann. First published by McSweeney's in November 2003, it was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award...
: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means (2003) - Uncentering the Earth: Copernicus and the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (2006) (Part of the "Great Discoveries" series)
- Poor People (2007)
- Riding Toward Everywhere (2008)
- ImperialImperial (book)Imperial is a 2009 study of south-east California by American author William T. Vollmann. The product of over a decade's research, the 1,344-page published text is Vollmann's longest single-volume work. The book is divided into thirteen sections and explores the history, economics and geography of...
(2009) - Kissing the Mask: Beauty, Understatement and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater (2010)
- Into the Forbidden Zone: A Trip Through Hell and High Water in Post-Earthquake Japan (2011) (eBook)
External links
- KCRW Bookworm Interview, November 4, 2004
- The Vollmann Club
- Alma Books author
- Profile of Vollmann in the New York Review of Books, December 2005
- McSweeney's Author Page
- TimeOut New York interview
- Review of Poor People http://www.stopsmilingonline.com/books_detail.html?id1=762 by Alexander Provan, published in the May 2007 issue of Stop Smiling magazine.
- KCRW Bookworm Interview, March 27, 2008, discussing Riding Toward Everywhere
- "Seeing Eye to Eye", Vollmann on ethics in photography, in BookforumBookforumBookforum is a New York-based magazine devoted to books and the discussion of literature. It is edited by Albert Mobilio, Chris Lehmann, , and Michael Miller.-History: Bookforum was launched in 1994 as a literary supplement to Artforum...
, Feb/Mar 2009 - Vollmann on Writing Poverty Review of Poor People by Nicolas Duvoux, published by La vie des idées, 02/27/09.
- Critical essay on Vollmann at Open Letters
- William Vollmann’s Burqa by Guy Reynolds, on Vollmann's "literary globalism."