Author. Regarded by many as an important literary figure of the postmodern era. Born David Merrill Markson, he was the son of a newspaper editor and a school teacher. Following service in the US Army, he earned a BA at Union College in Schenectady, New York and a Masters degree at Columbia University. While studying at Columbia in 1952, Markson wrote his thesis on Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano", which resulted in the two becoming friends. Over the course of his career he knew and was influenced by Dylan Thomas and Jack Kerouac. In 1959 Markson penned his first book, the detective novel "Epitaph for a Tramp", followed by its sequel "Epitaph for a Dead Beat" (1961); his greatest commercial success was with the western "The Ballad of Dingus Magee" (1966), which was the inspiration for the 1970 motion picture titled "Dirty Dingus Magee" starring Frank Sinatra. Among his other works are "Going Down" (1970), "Springer's Progress" (1977), the critically acclaimed "Wittgenstein's Mistress" (1988), "This is Not a Novel" (2001) and "Vanishing Point" (2004). His "Collected Poems" appeared in 1993.
Author. Regarded by many as an important literary figure of the postmodern era. Born David Merrill Markson, he was the son of a newspaper editor and a school teacher. Following service in the US Army, he earned a BA at Union College in Schenectady, New York and a Masters degree at Columbia University. While studying at Columbia in 1952, Markson wrote his thesis on Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano", which resulted in the two becoming friends. Over the course of his career he knew and was influenced by Dylan Thomas and Jack Kerouac. In 1959 Markson penned his first book, the detective novel "Epitaph for a Tramp", followed by its sequel "Epitaph for a Dead Beat" (1961); his greatest commercial success was with the western "The Ballad of Dingus Magee" (1966), which was the inspiration for the 1970 motion picture titled "Dirty Dingus Magee" starring Frank Sinatra. Among his other works are "Going Down" (1970), "Springer's Progress" (1977), the critically acclaimed "Wittgenstein's Mistress" (1988), "This is Not a Novel" (2001) and "Vanishing Point" (2004). His "Collected Poems" appeared in 1993.
Bio by: C.S.
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