John Horne Burns
Encyclopedia
John Horne Burns was a United States
author. He is best known as the author of the 1947 story-cycle The Gallery, which depicts life in Allied-occupied Naples
, Italy
, in 1944 from the perspective of several different characters. In this work he explores the themes of material and class inequality, alcoholism, relations between the sexes, and sexuality in general, including homosexuality, with the encounter between American and Neapolitan culture as a general thematic backdrop. The "Gallery" referred to is the Galleria Umberto I in down-town Naples.
. He was the eldest of seven children in a prominent Irish Catholic
family. He was educated at the Sisters of Notre Dame convent school and then Andover Academy
, where he pursued musical, rather than literary, endeavors. In 1937 he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard
with a degree in English, and became a teacher at the Loomis School
in Windsor, Connecticut
. At some point he learned Italian.
Entering the US Army
as a private in 1942, he served in military intelligence in Casablanca
and Algiers
until Pentagon
officials sent him to the Adjutant General's School in Washington, D.C.
Subsequently commissioned a second lieutenant, he spent the remainder of the war censoring prison-of-war mail in Africa
and Italy
. These experiences were to provide material for The Gallery. After his discharge in 1946 he taught at Loomis for another year before returning definitively to Italy.
By far Burns's best-known work, The Gallery was published in the summer of 1947. His second novel, Lucifer with a Book, appeared in 1949, but received little praise, and he wrote travel pieces for Holiday magazine
to survive. Disheartened by the critical reception of his novel, he retreated to Italy, where he began his last published work, A Cry of Children (1952). When this work also received negative press, he wrote a fourth novel, never to be completed. After a sailing trip, he lapsed into a coma and died from a cerebral hemorrhage on August 11, 1953. Initially buried in Rome
, his remains were disinterred and reburied in Boston.
, Burns said that "to be a good writer, one must be homosexual, perhaps because his or her marginalized status provides the gay or lesbian author with an objectivity not attainable within mainstream culture." Burns's fiction though, is not exclusively restricted to gay themes. Some of his fictional pieces use a heterosexual female perspective, and conformity to class
as well as gender expectations plays a large role in these texts.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author. He is best known as the author of the 1947 story-cycle The Gallery, which depicts life in Allied-occupied Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, 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...
, in 1944 from the perspective of several different characters. In this work he explores the themes of material and class inequality, alcoholism, relations between the sexes, and sexuality in general, including homosexuality, with the encounter between American and Neapolitan culture as a general thematic backdrop. The "Gallery" referred to is the Galleria Umberto I in down-town Naples.
Biography
Burns was born in 1916 in Andover, MassachusettsAndover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
. He was the eldest of seven children in a prominent Irish Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
family. He was educated at the Sisters of Notre Dame convent school and then Andover Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
, where he pursued musical, rather than literary, endeavors. In 1937 he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard
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...
with a degree in English, and became a teacher at the Loomis School
Loomis Chaffee
The Loomis Chaffee School is a premier coeducational boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduates located on a 300-plus acre campus in the Connecticut River Valley in Windsor, Connecticut, six miles north of Hartford...
in Windsor, Connecticut
Windsor, Connecticut
Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population was estimated at 28,778 in 2005....
. At some point he learned Italian.
Entering the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
as a private in 1942, he served in military intelligence in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
until Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
officials sent him to the Adjutant General's School in 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....
Subsequently commissioned a second lieutenant, he spent the remainder of the war censoring prison-of-war mail in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and 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...
. These experiences were to provide material for The Gallery. After his discharge in 1946 he taught at Loomis for another year before returning definitively to Italy.
By far Burns's best-known work, The Gallery was published in the summer of 1947. His second novel, Lucifer with a Book, appeared in 1949, but received little praise, and he wrote travel pieces for Holiday magazine
Holiday (magazine)
Holiday was an American travel magazine published from 1946 to 1977. Originally published by the Curtis Publishing Company, Holidays circulation grew to over one million subscribers at its height....
to survive. Disheartened by the critical reception of his novel, he retreated to Italy, where he began his last published work, A Cry of Children (1952). When this work also received negative press, he wrote a fourth novel, never to be completed. After a sailing trip, he lapsed into a coma and died from a cerebral hemorrhage on August 11, 1953. Initially buried in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, his remains were disinterred and reburied in Boston.
Genre and themes
Burns's works often feature homosexual themes, and he is known as a gay novelist. As recorded by his contemporary Gore VidalGore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, Burns said that "to be a good writer, one must be homosexual, perhaps because his or her marginalized status provides the gay or lesbian author with an objectivity not attainable within mainstream culture." Burns's fiction though, is not exclusively restricted to gay themes. Some of his fictional pieces use a heterosexual female perspective, and conformity to class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
as well as gender expectations plays a large role in these texts.
Scholarship on Burns
- Aldridge, John W. After the Lost Generation: A Critical Study of the Writers of Two Wars. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951.
- Byrd, David. "John Horne Burns". Dictionary of Literary Bibliography. 1985 yearbook. Jean W. Ross, ed. Detroit: Gale. 338-343.
- Brophy, Brigid. "John Horne Burns". Don't Never Forget: Collected Views and Reviews. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. 192-202.
- Graves, Mark A. "John Horne Burns". glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Culture. Claude J. Summers, ed. 2002. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/burns_jh.html
- "John Horne Burns, Novelist, 36, Dies". New York Times (August 14, 1953): 19.
- Mitzel, John. John Horne Burns: An Appreciative Biography. Dorchester, Mass.: Manifest Destiny, 1974.
- Smith, Harrison. "Thirteen Adventurers: A Study of a Year of First Novelists, 1947". The Saturday Review of Literature (February 14, 1948): 6-8+.