Difference between revisions of "Walker Percy"
(Created page with "''Walker Percy''' (1916-1960) was an American author. His works include ''The Moviegoer'' (1961), ''The Last Gentleman'' (1966) ''Love in the Ruins'' (1971), and ''The Thanat...") |
(life and works, see also, references, external links) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | ''Walker Percy''' (1916-1960) was an American author. His works include ''The Moviegoer'' (1961), ''The Last Gentleman'' (1966) ''Love in the Ruins'' (1971), and ''The Thanatos Syndrome'' (1987). He won a National Book Award for ''The Moviegoer''.<ref>''The New York Public Library Student's Desk Reference''. Prentice Hall: New York, 1991.</ref> | + | '''Walker Percy''' (1916-1960) was an American author. His works include ''The Moviegoer'' (1961), ''The Last Gentleman'' (1966) ''Love in the Ruins'' (1971), and ''The Thanatos Syndrome'' (1987). He won a National Book Award for ''The Moviegoer''.<ref>''The New York Public Library Student's Desk Reference''. Prentice Hall: New York, 1991.</ref> |
| + | |||
| + | ==Life and works== | ||
| + | Percy was born May 28, 1916, in Birmingham, Alabama.<ref>https://www.biography.com/people/walker-percy-9437373</ref> He was part of a prominent family; his father was a lawyer and he was able to attend Birmingham University School (now Altamont School).<ref>http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1285</ref> When Percy was thirteen, his father shot himself; two years later, his mother drove off a bridge; and so he was raised by his father's cousin in Greenville, Mississippi, where he developed a love for books (including his adoptive father's ''Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter’s Son'').<ref>http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-writers/walker-percy</ref> He enrolled in the University on North Carolina in 1934, studying chemistry, and in 1941 received a medical degree from [[Columbia University]].<ref>http://mwp.olemiss.edu/dir/percy_walker/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | At North Carolina University, he met a boy named Shelby Foote who disagreed with them on the issue of segregation - Percy was in favor; Foote was not. Foote moderated him, but Foote's literary abilities discouraged his writing and he did not produce any notable fiction novels until ''The Moviegoer'' (1961).<ref>http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/walker-percy</ref> He had written some philosophy texts, which established him as a Roman Catholic existentialists and introduced the concept of Malaise, despair in a rootless, modern, liberal world, as was apparent in his later works: ''The Last Gentleman'' (1966), ''Love in the Ruins: The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time near the End of the World'' (1971, a comedic science fiction novel), ''Lancelot'' (1977), an allegory of the tale King Arthur told by a wife-murderer in a mental facility; ''The Second Coming'' (1980); and ''The Thanatos Syndrome'' (1987).<ref>"Percy, Walker." ''Encyclopedia Britannica Online''.</ref> His ''The Thanatos Syndrome'', the story of a man imprisoned for selling drugs to truck drivers who attempts to contaminate a water supply, is an excellent warning of the dangers of a world of liberal doctrines.<ref>http://www.cslewisreview.org/2008/10/walker-percy-an-american-apologist/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Percy contracted tuberculosis while at medical school in the 1940s, and died May 10, 1990. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Saul Bellow]] | ||
| + | *[[Margaret Mitchell]] | ||
| + | *[[Flannery O'Connor]] | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==External links== | ||
| + | *[http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/index.html#gsc.tab=0 Further Sources], miscellaneous | ||
| + | *[http://www.cslewisreview.org/2008/10/walker-percy-an-american-apologist/ Biography] by C.S. Lewis Review | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, Walker}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, Walker}} | ||
[[Category:American Authors]] | [[Category:American Authors]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Conservative Authors]] | ||
Latest revision as of 19:42, May 25, 2017
Walker Percy (1916-1960) was an American author. His works include The Moviegoer (1961), The Last Gentleman (1966) Love in the Ruins (1971), and The Thanatos Syndrome (1987). He won a National Book Award for The Moviegoer.[1]
Life and works
Percy was born May 28, 1916, in Birmingham, Alabama.[2] He was part of a prominent family; his father was a lawyer and he was able to attend Birmingham University School (now Altamont School).[3] When Percy was thirteen, his father shot himself; two years later, his mother drove off a bridge; and so he was raised by his father's cousin in Greenville, Mississippi, where he developed a love for books (including his adoptive father's Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter’s Son).[4] He enrolled in the University on North Carolina in 1934, studying chemistry, and in 1941 received a medical degree from Columbia University.[5]
At North Carolina University, he met a boy named Shelby Foote who disagreed with them on the issue of segregation - Percy was in favor; Foote was not. Foote moderated him, but Foote's literary abilities discouraged his writing and he did not produce any notable fiction novels until The Moviegoer (1961).[6] He had written some philosophy texts, which established him as a Roman Catholic existentialists and introduced the concept of Malaise, despair in a rootless, modern, liberal world, as was apparent in his later works: The Last Gentleman (1966), Love in the Ruins: The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time near the End of the World (1971, a comedic science fiction novel), Lancelot (1977), an allegory of the tale King Arthur told by a wife-murderer in a mental facility; The Second Coming (1980); and The Thanatos Syndrome (1987).[7] His The Thanatos Syndrome, the story of a man imprisoned for selling drugs to truck drivers who attempts to contaminate a water supply, is an excellent warning of the dangers of a world of liberal doctrines.[8]
Percy contracted tuberculosis while at medical school in the 1940s, and died May 10, 1990.
See also
References
- ↑ The New York Public Library Student's Desk Reference. Prentice Hall: New York, 1991.
- ↑ https://www.biography.com/people/walker-percy-9437373
- ↑ http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1285
- ↑ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-writers/walker-percy
- ↑ http://mwp.olemiss.edu/dir/percy_walker/
- ↑ http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/walker-percy
- ↑ "Percy, Walker." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
- ↑ http://www.cslewisreview.org/2008/10/walker-percy-an-american-apologist/
External links
- Further Sources, miscellaneous
- Biography by C.S. Lewis Review