Jedediah Berry
Jedediah Berry (born 1977) is an American writer. He is the author of a novel, The Manual of Detection (2009).
Background and education
Berry was born in Randolph, Vermont, and spent his childhood in Catskill, New York. He attended Bard College, and earned a graduate degree from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked as an editor at Small Beer Press.[1]
Work
Berry’s first novel, The Manual of Detection, was published by The Penguin Press in 2009. It won the 2009 Hammett Prize[2] and the 2010 Crawford Award.[3] Set in an unnamed city, the novel follows file clerk Charles Unwin as he attempts to solve a mystery involving a missing detective and a criminal mastermind operating through people’s dreams. Critics have noted that The Manual of Detection combines elements from several genres of fiction, including mystery and fantasy.[4] Writing for The Guardian, Michael Moorcock situated the book within the tradition of steampunk fiction.[5] The New Yorker called it “the kind of mannered fantasy that might result if Wes Anderson were to adapt Kafka.”[6] A reviewer for The Observer compared it to The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien, and described it as “imaginative, fantastical, sometimes inexplicable, labyrinthine and ingenious.”[7] An abridged version of the novel, read by Toby Jones, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in January 2013.[8]
Berry’s short stories have appeared in Conjunctions, Chicago Review, Ninth Letter, and other magazines. He has taught at the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and he currently teaches at Bard College.[9]
Notes
- ^ "Jedediah Berry: A Stranger Road", Locus, 2010-07-01
- ^ Sciandra, Mary Frisque and Lisa. "IACW/NA: Hammett Prize: Past Years". www.crimewritersna.org. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^ "Jedediah Berry Wins Crawford Award". Locus Online. 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Lo Dico, Joy (2010-06-20), "The Manual of Detection, By Jedediah Berry", The Independent on Sunday
- ^ Moorcock, Michael (2009-08-22), "The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry", The Guardian
- ^ "Books Briefly Noted", The New Yorker, 2009-03-09
- ^ Guttridge, Peter (2009-04-05), "The Manual of Detection", The Observer
- ^ "ManualOfDetection". Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ "Bard College".
External links
- 21st-century American novelists
- American fantasy writers
- 1977 births
- Living people
- Bard College alumni
- University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni
- American male novelists
- American male short story writers
- American short story writers
- 21st-century American short story writers
- People from Catskill, New York
- 21st-century male writers
- Novelists from New York (state)