Richard Melo
Encyclopedia
Richard Melo is an American author
and book reviewer. His debut novel
, Jokerman 8
, was published in 2004.
and attended the San Francisco State University
. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon
.
As a book critic, since 2004, Melo has reviewed books by Thomas Pynchon
, William Vollmann, Colson Whitehead
, and Tom Robbins
, among others. Melo is a member of the National Book Critics Circle
.
His fiction has appeared in Willamette Week
and Gobshite Quarterly. He began his career as a playwright
with two productions appearing on the Mt. Hood Community College stage in the early 1990s. He is a graduate of the Creative Writing
program at San Francisco State University
.
His novel, Jokerman 8
(Soft Skull Press
, 2004), follows the lives of several San Francisco State University
college students as they flirt with the radical environmental movement and one another. Set in the late 80s and early 90s, it follows the members of the radical Jokerman troupe as they spike trees, sink an Icelandic whaling vessel, and occupy a construction crane on the eve of the groundbreaking of an animal research facility on the University of California
campus. The writing style recalls works by Ken Kesey
and Tom Robbins
, though its closest literary cousin is The Monkey Wrench Gang
, by Edward Abbey
. Jokerman 8 was Number 1 on Powell's Books
small press
bestseller
list in October 2004.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and book reviewer. His debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
, Jokerman 8
Jokerman 8
Jokerman 8, by Richard Melo, is a novel of so-called eco-terrorists whose aim is to hurt no one. It was published in 2004 by Soft Skull Press and was reviewed in The Oregonian, The Believer, and other print and online periodicals...
, was published in 2004.
Biography
Richard Melo was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and attended the San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
As a book critic, since 2004, Melo has reviewed books by Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, William Vollmann, Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead is a New York-based novelist. He is best known as the author of the 2001 novel John Henry Days. In 2002, he received a MacArthur Fellowship.-Early life:...
, and Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins (born July 22, 1936 is an American author. His best-selling novels are serio-comic, often wildly poetic stories with a strong social and philosophical undercurrent, an irreverent bent, and scenes extrapolated from...
, among others. Melo is a member of the National Book Critics Circle
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
.
His fiction has appeared in Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
and Gobshite Quarterly. He began his career as a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
with two productions appearing on the Mt. Hood Community College stage in the early 1990s. He is a graduate of the Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
program at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
.
His novel, Jokerman 8
Jokerman 8
Jokerman 8, by Richard Melo, is a novel of so-called eco-terrorists whose aim is to hurt no one. It was published in 2004 by Soft Skull Press and was reviewed in The Oregonian, The Believer, and other print and online periodicals...
(Soft Skull Press
Soft Skull Press
Soft Skull Press is an independent publisher founded by Sander Hicks in 1992, and run by Richard Eoin Nash from 2001 to 2009. In 2007, Nash sold Soft Skull to Counterpoint LLC, where it continues to function as a division of the press...
, 2004), follows the lives of several San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
college students as they flirt with the radical environmental movement and one another. Set in the late 80s and early 90s, it follows the members of the radical Jokerman troupe as they spike trees, sink an Icelandic whaling vessel, and occupy a construction crane on the eve of the groundbreaking of an animal research facility on the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
campus. The writing style recalls works by Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
and Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins (born July 22, 1936 is an American author. His best-selling novels are serio-comic, often wildly poetic stories with a strong social and philosophical undercurrent, an irreverent bent, and scenes extrapolated from...
, though its closest literary cousin is The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey , published in 1975.Easily Abbey's most famous fiction work, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the American Southwest, and was so influential that the term "monkeywrench"...
, by Edward Abbey
Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...
. Jokerman 8 was Number 1 on Powell's Books
Powell's Books
Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores in Oregon's Portland metropolitan area. Powell's headquarters, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. Powell's City of Books is located in the Pearl District on the edge of downtown and...
small press
Small press
Small press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...
bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
list in October 2004.