David Leavitt
Encyclopedia
David Leavitt is an American
novelist.
, Leavitt is a graduate of Yale University
. and a professor at the University of Florida
. He has also taught at Princeton
.
He is the author of Family Dancing, Equal Affections, The Page Turner, Martin Bauman, or A Sure Thing, The Lost Language of Cranes
, While England Sleeps (for the publication of which he was sued by the poet Stephen Spender
), The Body of Jonah Boyd
, and numerous short stories. His most recent novel is The Indian Clerk
. Leavitt, who is openly gay, has frequently explored gay issues in his work.
At the University of Florida
, he is a member of the Creative Writing faculty and is also the editor of Subtropics magazine, the University of Florida's literary review. He divides his time between Florida and Tuscany
, Italy
. Many of his books have been translated into Italian and published there.
In 1994–95, Leavitt was sued by the English
poet
Stephen Spender
, who claimed Leavitt had plagiarized his memoir in While England Sleeps. Subsequently, Viking Press
, Leavitt's publishers, agreed to delete a passage that closely paralleled Spender's. The publishers also agreed never to publish the manuscript that had become the subject of the charge of plagiarism. In addition, Spender claimed that Leavitt had fictionalized his life, especially by adding graphic, scatological, fantasies attributed to the character modeled after Spender (in particular, "allegedly using his relationship with 'Jimmy Younger'"). "If he wants to write about sexual fantasies, he should write about his own," the poet said.
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist.
Biography
Born in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Leavitt is a graduate of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. and a professor at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. He has also taught at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
He is the author of Family Dancing, Equal Affections, The Page Turner, Martin Bauman, or A Sure Thing, The Lost Language of Cranes
The Lost Language of Cranes
The Lost Language of Cranes is a novel by David Leavitt, first published in 1986. A British TV movie of the novel was made in 1991. The movie was released on dvd in 2009.-Plot introduction:...
, While England Sleeps (for the publication of which he was sued by the poet Stephen Spender
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work...
), The Body of Jonah Boyd
The Body of Jonah Boyd
The Body of Jonah Boyd is a novel by David Leavitt, published in 2004, that depicts various consequences of the theft of a manuscript. It tells a story about the life of a common American family dealing with ethical principles, relationships and fairness today.The story is perceived through the...
, and numerous short stories. His most recent novel is The Indian Clerk
The Indian Clerk
The Indian Clerk is a novel by David Leavitt, published in 2007. It is inspired by the career of the self-taught mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan, as seen mainly through the eyes of his mentor and collaborator G.H. Hardy, a British mathematics professor at Cambridge University...
. Leavitt, who is openly gay, has frequently explored gay issues in his work.
At the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, he is a member of the Creative Writing faculty and is also the editor of Subtropics magazine, the University of Florida's literary review. He divides his time between Florida and Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Many of his books have been translated into Italian and published there.
In 1994–95, Leavitt was sued by the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Stephen Spender
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work...
, who claimed Leavitt had plagiarized his memoir in While England Sleeps. Subsequently, Viking Press
Viking Press
Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
, Leavitt's publishers, agreed to delete a passage that closely paralleled Spender's. The publishers also agreed never to publish the manuscript that had become the subject of the charge of plagiarism. In addition, Spender claimed that Leavitt had fictionalized his life, especially by adding graphic, scatological, fantasies attributed to the character modeled after Spender (in particular, "allegedly using his relationship with 'Jimmy Younger'"). "If he wants to write about sexual fantasies, he should write about his own," the poet said.
Novels
- The Lost Language of CranesThe Lost Language of CranesThe Lost Language of Cranes is a novel by David Leavitt, first published in 1986. A British TV movie of the novel was made in 1991. The movie was released on dvd in 2009.-Plot introduction:...
(1986) - Equal AffectionsEqual Affections-Plot summary:Louise, an aging woman, is coming down with cancer. Her husband Nat is having an affair with another woman. Meanwhile, Walter, partner of Louise and Nat's son Danny, has cyber sex and phone sex with other men. April, Danny's sister, visits her brother in suburban New Jersey. With...
(1989) - While England Sleeps (1993; revised and reissued 1995)
- Gravity
- The Page Turner (1998)
- Martin Bauman; or, A Sure Thing (2000)
- The Body of Jonah BoydThe Body of Jonah BoydThe Body of Jonah Boyd is a novel by David Leavitt, published in 2004, that depicts various consequences of the theft of a manuscript. It tells a story about the life of a common American family dealing with ethical principles, relationships and fairness today.The story is perceived through the...
(2004) - The Indian ClerkThe Indian ClerkThe Indian Clerk is a novel by David Leavitt, published in 2007. It is inspired by the career of the self-taught mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan, as seen mainly through the eyes of his mentor and collaborator G.H. Hardy, a British mathematics professor at Cambridge University...
(2007)
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Collections
- Family Dancing (1984)
- A Place I've Never Been (1990)
- Arkansas (1997)
- The Marble Quilt (2001)
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Nonfiction
- Italian Pleasures (1996) (with Mark Mitchell)
- Pages Passed from Hand to Hand: The Hidden Tradition of Homosexual Literature in English from 1748 to 1914 (1997) (editor, with Mark Mitchell)
- In Maremma: Life and a House in Southern Tuscany (2001) (with Mark Mitchell)
- Florence, A Delicate Case (2003)
- The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer (2005)
External links
- David Leavitt's website at the University of Florida
- BBC Radio 4 Interview about The Body of Jonah Boyd
- Econoculture Interview, February 2 2006 by Paul Morton
- Recorded keystrokes of Leavitt writing a poem on surprise topic with 15 minute time limit
- Website for Subtropics Magazine
- Interview with Identity Theory