Stanley Elkin

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Elkin, Stanley [Lawrence] (1930–1995), novelist whose fiction is marked by black humor, symbolism, rich prose, and a satiric view of contemporary American life. His novels are Boswell (1964), a comic depiction of a young man who attaches himself to prominent people, including the Queen of England; A Bad Man (1967), about a department store owner who ends up in prison; The Dick Gibson Show (1971), describing the adventures, sometimes surreal, of an early‐day radio announcer; The Franchiser (1976), depicting an American businessman who creates chains of motels and restaurants; The Living End (1979), about the death of an ordinary man and how God judges him in the afterworld; George Mills (1982), about a man's 1000 years of reincarnations; The Rabbi of Lud (1987), a comic view of a rabbi often active as a sexton, and The MacGuffin (1991), a densely plotted novel about midlife anxiety, marital infidelity, and small‐town conspiracies. Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers (1966) collects stories, and Searches and Seizures (1973) prints three novellas. The Six‐Year‐Old Man (1987) prints an unproduced screenplay written in 1966. In 1985 Early Elkin collected stories, a critique, and a memoir written in the 1950s. He has also created assemblages of his own writings in Stanley Elkin's Greatest Hits (1980), and Stanley Elkin's The Magic Kingdom (1986), a novel. Born in New York City, Elkin has been a professor at Washington University, St. Louis, since 1959.

Stanley Elkin 1930–95, American writer, b. New York City. An offbeat fiction writer, Elkin had a gift for black comedy, fantastic imagery, bizarre situations, and a kind of lyrical bleakness, all expressed in ornately wrought language. He was essentially a moralist, and his works reveal a deep underlying seriousness. His novels include Boswell: A Modern Comedy (1964), The Franchiser (1976), George Mills (1982), The Magic Kingdom (1985), and Mrs. Ted Bliss (1995). His short stories, notably Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers (1966), and novellas, such as Searches and Seizures (1973), won critical acclaim. Also an essayist (e.g., the 1992 collection Pieces of Soup ), Elkin taught writing (1960–95) at Washington Univ. in St. Louis.