GROSSBACH, Robert 1941-

PERSONAL: Born December 31, 1941, in Bronx, NY; son of Herman and Mollie Grossbach; married Sylvia Cohen; children: Mitchell, Elliot, Jennifer. Education: Cooper Union, B.S.E.E., 1962; Columbia University, M.E.E., 1965.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Wheeler Laboratories, Long Island, NY, engineer, 1962-65; Loral Corp., Bronx, NY, senior engineer, 1965-68; Narda Microwaves, Plainview, NY, section head, 1970-77; freelance writer and engineering consultant, 1977—.

MEMBER: Authors Guild, Authors League of America, Screenwriters Guild of America, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

AWARDS, HONORS: Isaacson Award for best short story, New School for Social Research, 1969, for "The Abolition of Surveying at Camp Green."

WRITINGS:

Someone Great, Harper's Magazine Press (New York, NY), 1971.

Easy and Hard Ways Out, Harper's Magazine Press (New York, NY), 1975, published as Best Defense, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 1984.

Never Say Die: An Autonecrographical Novel, Harper (New York, NY), 1979.

A Shortage of Engineers (humorous novel), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Also author of a novel, Round Trip. Contributor to books, including Laughing Space (short-story anthology), edited by Isaac Asimov, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1982. Contributor of short stories and technical articles to periodicals, including Transatlantic Review, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Creative Computing, Microwave Journal, and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Proceedings.

NOVELIZATIONS OF SCREENPLAYS

The Goodbye Girl (based on screenplay by Neil Simon), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1977.

The Cheap Detective (based on screenplay by Neil Simon), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1978.

California Suite (based on screenplay by Neil Simon), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1978.

The Frisco Kid (based on screenplay by Michael Elias), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1979.

. . . And Justice for All (based on screenplay by Barry Levinson), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1979.

Going in Style (based on screenplay by Martin Brest), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1979.

Chapter Two (based on screenplay by Neil Simon), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1980.

The Devil and Max Devlin (based on screenplay by Steve Tesich), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1981.

ADAPTATIONS: Easy and Hard Ways Out was filmed as a motion picture titled Best Defense, starring Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2001, review of A Shortage of Engineers, p. 684.

Publishers Weekly, June 25, 2001, review of A Shortage of Engineers, p. 48.

ONLINE

BookReporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (March 31, 2003), Roz Shea, review of A Shortage of Engineers.*