Tracy Kidder
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| Tracy Kidder | |
|---|---|
 Tracy Kidder at the College of Wooster, 2009. |
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| Born | November 12, 1945 New York, New York |
| Alma mater | Harvard University University of Iowa |
| Genres | Non-fiction |
| Literary movement | Literary journalism |
| Notable work(s) | The Soul of a New Machine Mountains Beyond Mountains |
| Notable award(s) | Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction 1982 The Soul of a New Machine |
John Tracy Kidder (born November 12, 1945) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer of the 1981 nonfiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation. His book, Strength in What Remains, the story of a Burundian genocide survivor, was released August 25, 2009.
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[edit] Early life and education
Kidder was born November 12, 1945 in New York City.[1]:263 He graduated from Phillips Academy in 1963.[2] He attended Harvard University, originally majoring in political science, but switched to English after taking a course in creative writing from Robert Fitzgerald.[3] He received an AB degree from Harvard in 1967.[1]:263
He served in the US Army as a first lieutenant, Military Intelligence, Vietnam, from 1967 to 1969.[1]:263 After returning from Vietnam he wrote for some time and then enrolled in the Iowa Writers' Workshop.[4]:128 He received an MFA degree from the University of Iowa in 1974.[1]:263
[edit] Career
Kidder wrote his first book, The Road to Yuba City, while at the University of Iowa. The Atlantic Monthly commissioned the work, and he continued writing as a freelance for the magazine during the 1970s.[4]:128 The Road to Yuba City was a critical failure,[4]:128, 137 and Kidder said in a 1995 interview that "I can't say anything intelligent about that book, except that I learned never to write about a murder case. The whole experience was disgusting, so disgusting, in fact, that in 1981 I went to Doubleday and bought back the rights to the book. I don't want The Road to Yuba City to see the light of day again."[4]:129
Kidder said that, unlike many other writers, he was not much influenced by his Vietnam experience: "Of course, whenever you're in an experience like Vietnam, it is bound to influence your work; it's inevitable, but I really don't think it greatly shaped me as a writer."[4]:128 His works for Atlantic Monthly include several essays and short stories about the Vietnam War, including "The Death of Major Great" (1974), "Soldiers of Misfortune" (1978), and "In Quarantine" (1980). Writing in 1997, David Bennett rated these three pieces "among the finest reporting to come out of Vietnam".[4]:128
His second book, The Soul of a New Machine, was much more successful than his first, and won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction in 1982. He has continued to write nonfiction books and articles and these have been well received by the critics.[4]:127
Kidder is considered a literary journalist because of the strong story line and personal voice in his writing.[5]:5 He has cited as his writing influences John McPhee, A. J. Liebling, and George Orwell.[4]:127–128 In a 1984 interview he said, "McPhee has been my model. He's the most elegant of all the journalists writing today, I think."[5]:7
Kidder wrote in a 1994 essay, "In fiction, believability may have nothing to do with reality or even plausibility. It has everything to do with those things in nonfiction. I think that the nonfiction writer's fundamental job is to make what is true believable."[6]
[edit] Selected awards
- Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction, 1982, for The Soul of a New Machine[7]
- National Book Award for General Nonfiction, 1982, for The Soul of a New Machine[8]
- Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, 1989–1990, for Among Schoolchildren[9]
- Ambassador Book Award in American Studies, 1990, for Among Schoolchildren[10]
- Lettre Ulysses Award (2nd prize), 2004, for Mountains Beyond Mountains[11]
[edit] Books by Tracy Kidder
- Kidder, Tracy (1974). The Road to Yuba City: A Journey into the Juan Corona Murders. Garden City: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385028653.
- Kidder, Tracy (2000) [1981]. The Soul of a New Machine. Boston: Back Bay Books. ISBN 0316491977.
- Kidder, Tracy (1985). House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618001913.
- Kidder, Tracy (1990) [1989]. Among Schoolchildren. New York: New York : Avon Books. ISBN 0380710897.
- Kidder, Tracy (1993). Old Friends. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780395710883.
- Kidder, Tracy (2000) [1999]. Home Town. New York: Washington Square Press. ISBN 0671785214.
- Kidder, Tracy (2003). Mountains Beyond Mountains. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375506160.
- Kidder, Tracy (2005). My Detachment: A Memoir. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375506152.
- Kidder, Tracy (2009). Strength in What Remains. New York: Random House. ISBN 9781400066216.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Daniel Jones, John D. Jorgenson, editors. (1998). "Kidder, Tracy 1945–". Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series. 61. Gale Research. pp. 263–267. ISBN 0-7876-2004-1.
- ^ "Phillips Academy - Notable Alumni - Literature, Publishing & Journalism". Phillips Academy. 2009. http://wwwdev.andover.edu/About/Notable%20Alumni/Pages/LiteraturePublishingJournalism.aspx. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ Kidder, Tracy (Fall 1996). "Courting the approval of the dead". TriQuarterly (97): 43–59. ISSN 00413097.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bennett, David (1997). "Tracy Kidder". Dictionary of Literary Biography. 185. Gale Research. pp. 127–137. ISBN 0-7876-1119-0.
- ^ a b Sims, Norman (1984). "The Literary Journalists". in Sims, Norman. The Literary Journalists. Ballantine Books. pp. 3–25. ISBN 9780345310811.
- ^ Kidder, Tracy (February 1994). "Facts and the nonfiction writer". The Writer 107 (2): 14–16. ISSN 0043-9517.
- ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes: General Nonfiction". Columbia University. 2009-06-05. http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/General-Nonfiction. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "National Book Awards - 1982". National Book Foundation. 2009-02-24. http://www.nationalbook.org/nba1982.html. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "10th Annual RFK Book Award". Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/10th/. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "Past Winners 1986–2002". English-Speaking Union of the United States. 2007-01-11. http://www.esuus.org/books_across_sea_ambassador_books_awards_past_winners_1986_2002.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "Lettre Ulysses Award: Winners 2004". Lettre International. http://www.lettre-ulysses-award.org/index04/winners2004.html. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
[edit] External links
- Kidder's web site
- Works by or about Tracy Kidder in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- 1985 audio interview of Tracy Kidder at Wired for Books.org by Don Swaim
