David Markson
Born	1927 Albany, New York
Occupation	Novelist
Notable work(s)	Wittgenstein's Mistress
Influences William Faulkner, Malcolm Lowry

David Markson is an American author, born in Albany, New York^[1] in 1927. He is the author of several postmodern novels, including This is Not a Novel, Springer's Progress, and Wittgenstein's Mistress. His most recent work, The Last Novel, was published in 2007 and received a positive review in the New York Times, which called it "a real tour de force."^[2]

Markson's work is characterized by an unconventional approach to narration and plot. While his early works may draw on the modernist tradition of William Faulkner and Malcolm Lowry, Markson says his later novels are "literally crammed with literary and artistic anecdotes" and "nonlinear, discontinuous, collage-like, an assemblage."^[3]

Dalkey Archive Press has published several of his novels.^[4] In December 2006, publishers Shoemaker & Hoard republished two of Markson's early crime novels Epitaph for a Tramp and Epitaph for a Dead Beat in one volume.^[5]

In addition to his novels, he has published a book of poetry^[1] and a critical study of Malcolm Lowry.^[6]

The movie Dirty Dingus Magee, starring Frank Sinatra, is based on Markson's first novel, The Ballad of Dingus Magee, an anti-Western.^[7] He wrote three crime novels early in his career.

Educated at Union College and Columbia University, Markson began his writing career as a journalist and book editor, periodically taking up work as a college professor at Columbia University, Long Island University, and The New School.^[8]

Markson currently lives in New York City's West Village.^[1]

[edit] External links

• Introduction and Bibliography on David Markson
• Bookslut.com Interview with David Markson
• Interview with David Markson
• Review of This is Not a Novel

[edit] References