Vance Bourjaily life and biography

Vance Bourjailywas an American writer, novelist, playwright, journalist, and essayist.

Bourjaily graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in 1947. While at Bowdoin, he became a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Theta chapter).

Bourjaily married Bettina Yensen in 1946. The couple had two children and later divorced. Bourjaily re-married in 1985, to Yasmin Mogul (a former student) and had a son by her. He died in Greenbrae, California on August 31, 2010.

Bourjaily began his work with his first novel entitled The End of My Life. The book was heavily influenced by Bourjaily's wartime experiences. Critics said that the novel borrowed heavily from the style and tone of Ernest Hemingway.However, the novel was met with praise and was hailed by critic John Aldridge as a war novel on the level of Hemingway's Farewell to Arms.

Bourjaily's second novel, The Hound of Earth, paints a picture of Cold War America through the eyes of a scientist who helped develop the atomic bomb. His third novel, The Violated, dealt with the themes of violence and alienation. This book was also met with critical praise.

Brill Among the Ruins is Bourjaily's most critically acclaimed novel. The novel was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and was praised in the New York Times Book Review.

Bourjaily spent much of his career in academia. From 1957 to 1980, he worked as a creative writing instructor and a professor at the University of Iowa. Bourjaily also worked at several other academic institutions such as Oregon State University, the University of Arizona, and Louisiana State University.

While living in San Francisco, Bourjaily wrote feature stories for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Author of books:

The End of My Life (1947)
The Hound of Earth (1955)
The Violated (1958)
Confessions of a Spent Youth (1960)
The Unnatural Enemy: Essays on Hunting (1963)
The Man Who Knew Kennedy (1967)
Brill among the Ruins (1970)
Country Matters: Collected Reports from the Fields and Streams of Iowa and Other Places (essays) (1973)
Now Playing at Canterbury (1976)
A Game Men Play (1980)
The Great Fake Book (1986)
Old Soldier: A Novel (1990)

Read more