Bob Shacochis
Encyclopedia
Bob Shacochis is an American
novelist, short story writer, and literary journalist. He teaches creative writing at Florida State University
.
, but grew up in the Washington, D.C.
suburb of McLean
, Virginia
. He was educated at the University of Missouri
and the Iowa Writers' Workshop
at the University of Iowa
, and currently teaches creative writing at Florida State University
. His first short-story collection, Easy in the Islands, received the National Book Award
for first fiction. The stories are set in various Caribbean
locales and reflect the author's experiences as a Peace Corps
volunteer in the Grenadines
. His second story collection, The Next New World, widens the author's milieu, containing stories set in Florida
and the islands of the Caribbean but also in Northern Virginia and the mid-Atlantic coast. In 1993, Shacochis published his first novel, Swimming in the Volcano, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Heavily concerned with politics, elaborate in style and description, and immersed in descriptions of nature and outdoor pursuits, his fiction reflects the influence of Joseph Conrad
, Graham Greene
, J.P. Donleavy, and especially Ernest Hemingway
.
and war correspondent
. A longtime culinary aficionado, Shacochis served as a cooking columnist for GQ magazine, writing the "Dining In" column, which combined often humorous anecdotes with recipes. The "Dining In" columns are collected in Domesticity, a hybrid cookbook/essay collection. He is a contributing editor at Outside
magazine, and was instrumental, along with other literary journalists recruited by then-editor Mark Bryant
, including Jon Krakauer
, Tim Cahill
, and Bruce Barcott
, in establishing Outsides popular and critical success. Shacochis is also a contributing editor to Harper's
, which sent him to Haiti
in 1994 to cover the uprising against Jean-Bertrand Aristide
, the island nation's first democratically elected President, and the subsequent intervention by US Army Special Forces, with whom Shacochis traveled for nearly a year covering the invasion. The experience resulted in The Immaculate Invasion, Shacochis's first full-length book of nonfiction. Shacochis's nonfiction generally fits into the tradition of the New Journalism
popularized by Tom Wolfe
, Norman Mailer
, and Hunter S. Thompson
in the 1960s and 1970s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist, short story writer, and literary journalist. He teaches creative writing at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
.
Writing career
Shacochis was born in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, but grew up in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
suburb of McLean
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. He was educated at the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
and the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, and currently teaches creative writing at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
. His first short-story collection, Easy in the Islands, received the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for first fiction. The stories are set in various Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
locales and reflect the author's experiences as a Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
volunteer in the Grenadines
Grenadines
The Grenadines is a Caribbean island chain of over 600 islands in the Windward Islands.-Geographic boundaries:They are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. They lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither...
. His second story collection, The Next New World, widens the author's milieu, containing stories set in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and the islands of the Caribbean but also in Northern Virginia and the mid-Atlantic coast. In 1993, Shacochis published his first novel, Swimming in the Volcano, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Heavily concerned with politics, elaborate in style and description, and immersed in descriptions of nature and outdoor pursuits, his fiction reflects the influence of Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, J.P. Donleavy, and especially Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
Journalism
In the years since, Shacochis has worked primarily as a journalistJournalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
. A longtime culinary aficionado, Shacochis served as a cooking columnist for GQ magazine, writing the "Dining In" column, which combined often humorous anecdotes with recipes. The "Dining In" columns are collected in Domesticity, a hybrid cookbook/essay collection. He is a contributing editor at Outside
Outside (magazine)
Outside is an American magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue debuted in September 1977 with its mission statement declaring that the publication was "dedicated to covering the people, sports and activities, politics, art, literature, and hardware of the outdoors..."Its founders were...
magazine, and was instrumental, along with other literary journalists recruited by then-editor Mark Bryant
Mark Bryant
Mark Craig Bryant is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1st round of the 1988 NBA Draft. Bryant played for 10 NBA teams during his career, averaging 5.4 ppg and appeared in the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals as a member of the Blazers...
, including Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, primarily known for his writing about the outdoors and mountain-climbing...
, Tim Cahill
Tim Cahill
Timothy Filiga "Tim" Cahill is an football player of Australian nationality who plays for Everton and the Australian national football team...
, and Bruce Barcott
Bruce Barcott
Bruce Barcott is an American editor, environmental journalist and author. He is a contributing editor of Outside and has written articles for The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Mother Jones, Sports Illustrated, Harper's Magazine, Legal Affairs, Utne Reader and others...
, in establishing Outsides popular and critical success. Shacochis is also a contributing editor to Harper's
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, which sent him to Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
in 1994 to cover the uprising against Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...
, the island nation's first democratically elected President, and the subsequent intervention by US Army Special Forces, with whom Shacochis traveled for nearly a year covering the invasion. The experience resulted in The Immaculate Invasion, Shacochis's first full-length book of nonfiction. Shacochis's nonfiction generally fits into the tradition of the New Journalism
New Journalism
New Journalism was a style of 1960s and 1970s news writing and journalism which used literary techniques deemed unconventional at the time. The term was codified with its current meaning by Tom Wolfe in a 1973 collection of journalism articles he published as The New Journalism, which included...
popularized by Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
, Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, and Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
in the 1960s and 1970s.
Nonfiction
- Drinking, Smoking and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times (1994) ISBN 0-8118-0784-3
- Domesticity: A Gastronomic Interpretation of Love (1994) ISBN 0-684-19642-5
- The Immaculate Invasion (1999) ISBN 0-7475-4529-4
- Conversations with Cuba (2001) ISBN 0-8203-2302-0
Fiction
- Easy in the Islands (1986) ISBN 0-8021-4059-9
- The Next New World (1990) ISBN 0-14-012105-6
- Swimming in the Volcano (1993) ISBN 0-684-19260-8