Roger Rosenblatt
Roger Rosenblatt | |
---|---|
Born | 1940 (age 83–84) United States |
Occupation(s) | Writer and teacher |
Roger Rosenblatt (born 1940) is an American memoirist, essayist, and novelist.
Career
Roger Rosenblatt began writing professionally in his mid-30s, when he became literary editor and a columnist for
In 1975 he became Literary Editor and a columnist at The New Republic. After that, and before turning solely to literary work, he was a columnist on
As Senior Writer at Time he became the first to report his own stories—the functions of reporting and writing having been separate previously.
In 2006 Rosenblatt left his positions at Time and the NewsHour and gave up journalism to devote his time to the writing of memoirs, novels and extended essays. His first novel, Lapham Rising, was a national bestseller, adapted as Angry Neighbors (2022) and filmed around Waseca, Minnesota and Excelsior, Minnesota.[9][10][11] Making Toast was a New York Times bestseller.[12] The memoir was a book-length version of an essay he wrote for the New Yorker magazine, on the death of his daughter, in 2008. The L.A. Times called Making Toast "sad, funny, brave and luminous. A rare and generous book."[13] The Washington Post described it as "a textbook on what constitutes perfect writing and how to be a class act."[14] He followed Making Toast with Unless It Moves the Human Heart, a book on the art and craft of writing, which was also a New York Times bestseller,[15] as was Kayak Morning,[16] a meditation on grief. The Boy Detective: A New York Childhood was published in 2013. The Book of Love: Improvisations on That Crazy Little Thing was published in January 2015. His novel, Thomas Murphy, was published in January, 2016. His two most recent books are Cold Moon: On Life, Love, and Responsibility (2020) and Cataract Blues: Running the Keyboard (2023). [17]
Of Cold Moon, The Washington Post wrote: "In this deceptively short book, the celebrated author and essayist takes us on a tour of his 'weathered mind.' His memories of his life summon ours, without warning or apology. Line by line, he helps us find softer landings... He never mentions [the pandemic], and yet he does... 'Everybody grieves.' So many lost, with many more to die... Let us abide by Rosenblatt's No. 3. We are responsible for each other."[18] Kirkus Reviews wrote: "In brief passages connected by associations and the improvisational feel of jazz [Rosenblatt] moves fluidly among memoir, philosophy, natural history and inspiration... A tonic for tough times filled with plain spoken lyricism, gratitude, and good humor."[19]
Of Cataract Blues, Garry Trudeau wrote: "While everyone around you is seeing red, along comes a happy outpatient who's just nuts about the color blue. Prompted by his wildly successful eye surgery, Roger Rosenblatt celebrates his new favorite wavelength by letting it wash over everything that matters — nature, history, music, memory, laughter, loss, and love. This is a master, at work and at play."[20]
In total, he is the author of 21 books, which have been published in 14 languages. They include the national bestseller Rules for Aging; three collections of essays; and Children of War, based on his story in Time, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize[21] and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
He has also written six off-Broadway plays, including Ashley Montana Goes Ashore in the Caicos, and The Oldsmobiles, both produced at
William Safire of the New York Times wrote that Roger Rosenblatt’s work represents “some of the most profound and stylish writing in America today.”[23] Vanity Fair said that he “set new standards of thought and compassion” in journalism.[24] The Philadelphia Inquirer cited his essays for “unparalleled elegance and wit.”[25] Kirkus Reviews noted, "He has excelled in nearly every literary form."[26] UPI (United Press International) called him “a national treasure.”[27]
In his recent books, Rosenblatt has experimented with a form of narrative that connects section to section, without chapter demarcations, dismissing chronological time, and mixing fact and fiction. The effect he seeks is akin to movements in music. In his review of The Boy Detective in the New York Times Book Review, Pete Hamill compared Rosenblatt's style to that of "a great jazz musician...moving from one emotion to another, playing some with a dose of irony, others with joy, and a few with pain and melancholy (the blues, of course). Alone with the instrument of his art, he seems to be hoping only to surprise himself."[28] The Kirkus Review of The Book of Love said, "His wanderings with the subject of love are like Coltrane at the Village Vanguard. When you hear it, you know."[29]
In November, 2015, Rosenblatt received the 2015
In 2018, he launched a podcast: Word for Word with Roger Rosenblatt.[32] In 2021, he was honored by the Fulbright Association on its 75th anniversary. Also in 2021, he founded Write America, a national reading series broadcast weekly by writers devoted to healing divisions in the country. [33]
Works
- Black Fiction (1974)
- Children of War (1983)
- Witness: The World Since Hiroshima (1985)
- Life Itself: Abortion in the American Mind (1992)
- The Man In The Water (1994)
- Coming Apart: A Memoir of the Harvard Wars of 1969 (1997)
- Consuming Desires: Consumption, Culture and the Pursuit of Happiness (1999)
- Rules for Aging (2000)
- Where We Stand: 30 Reasons for Loving Our Country (2002)
- Anything Can Happen (2004)
- Lapham Rising (2006)
- Beet (2008)
- Making Toast (2010)
- Unless it Moves the Human Heart: The Art and Craft of Writing (2011)
- Kayak Morning (2012)
- The Boy Detective: A New York Childhood (2013)
- The Book of Love (2015)
- Thomas Murphy (2016)
- The Story I Am (2020)
- Cold Moon (2020)
- Cataract Blues (2023)
References
- ^ "Faculty & Staff". Stony Brook Southampton MFA in Creative Writing & Literature. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- ^ "Former Expos Head Accepts Post As New Republic Editor". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- ^ "Roger Rosenblatt". Baylor University. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ a b "Finalists Selected for Baylor's $200,000 Cherry Award for Great Teaching". Baylor.edu. 2009-04-24.
- ^ "Candidates for the "Journalist in Space Program"". Space Facts. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ Rosenblatt, Roger (2 August 1999). "Get rid of the damned things". CNN. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ "A Birthday Toast to Roger Rosenblatt". Huffpost. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9780689113154.
- ^ Becker, Ethan (25 November 2022). "Movie filmed outside Waseca to premiere Dec. 2". Southernminn.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "ANGRY NEIGHBORS". Winterstate Entertainment. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ Rattiner, Dan (14 January 2023). "Angry Neighbors: A Disappointing Adaptation of Lapham Rising". danspapers.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "New York Times Book Review". The New York Times.
- ^ Lenney, Dinah (March 7, 2010). "'Making Toast: A Family Story' by Roger Rosenblatt". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ See, Carolyn (February 19, 2010). "Book World: Carolyn See reviews 'Making Toast' by Roger Rosenblatt". The Washington Post.
- ^ "The New York Times Book Review, Bestseller List". The New York Times.
- ^ "New York Times Book Review, Bestseller List". The New York Times.
- ISBN 978-0062394569.
- ^ Schultz, Connie. "Eighty years of memories that will stir readers' own". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ^ "COLD MOON | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ISBN 9780916304386.
- ^ "RFK Center website". www.rfkcenter.org. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26.
- ^ "Rosenblatt's One-Man Show Dives Into Writing And Jazz". April 15, 2019.
- ^ "Roger Rosenblatt". Harper Collins Speakers Bureau. Harper Collins.
- ^ "Ashley Montana Goes Ashore in the Caicos… Or What Am I Doing Here?". the flea.
- ^ Sutherland, Matt. "REVIEWER MATT SUTHERLAND INTERVIEWS ROGER ROSENBLATT, AUTHOR OF COLD MOON: ON LIFE, LOVE, AND RESPONSIBILITY". Foreword Reviews.
- ^ "Making Toast, A Family Story". Kirkus. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ Cole, Gloria. "Off-Broadway's national treasure -- Roger Rosenblatt". UPI. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ Hamill, Pete (15 November 2013). "New York Observer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
- ^ "The Book of Love". Kirkus. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ "Kenyon Review for Literary Achievement". KenyonReview.org.
- ^ "The Chautauquan Daily". chqdaily.com.
- ^ "Word For Word with Roger Rosenblatt". Megaphone.fm. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ "Rosenblatt's Write America Invites a Nation to Heal Through Its Authors". sagharborexpress.com. 2 February 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.