Sam Savage
Encyclopedia
Sam Savage is an American novelist and poet, best known for his 2006 novel Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife. Other published works are The Cry of the Sloth and The Criminal Life of Effie O.
. His father, Henry Savage Jr., a lawyer by profession, was also an author, publishing several books of history and natural history.
Savage graduated from Yale University
in 1968. He subsequently studied philosophy at Yale and at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, receiving a Phd from Yale University
with a dissertation on the political thought of Thomas Hobbes
. He also taught at Yale, in his words "briefly and unhappily."
Prior to attending Yale he was poetry editor of Reflections, a small literary magazine published in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
, in the early 1960s and was active in the Civil Rights Movement
. After leaving Yale Savage spent several years in France. He returned to South Carolina in 1980, settling in the small coastal village of McClellanville. In 2004 he moved to Madison, Wisconsin
, where he now lives. Before writing, he worked as a bicycle mechanic, carpenter, crab fisherman, and letterpress printer.
He is married to Nora Manheim, daughter of the noted literary translator Ralph Manheim
. They have two children. Savage also has a son by a previous marriage.
Savage is the author of three novels. The first was a novel in verse, The Criminal Life of Effie O., published in 2005 and described as a “children’s book for adults.” It is illustrated by Virginia Beverley (Savage). In 2006 Coffee House Press
published Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife, a darkly humorous story about a bookstore rat
in difficult times. In 2007 the Spanish publishing house Seix Barral purchased the world rights to Firmin, including English-language rights. The novel subsequently became a bestseller
in Europe and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. The Cry of the Sloth, published in 2009, is a tragic-comic novel that recounts the downhill slide of a failed literary man. The novel is composed of every word the protagonist writes over a period of four months, including letters, novel drafts, newspaper advertisements, and grocery lists.
Life and work
Sam (Samuel P.) Savage was born in 1940 in Camden, South CarolinaCamden, South Carolina
Camden is the fourth oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and is also the county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The population was an estimated 7,103 in 2009...
. His father, Henry Savage Jr., a lawyer by profession, was also an author, publishing several books of history and natural history.
Savage graduated from 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...
in 1968. He subsequently studied philosophy at Yale and at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, receiving a Phd from 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...
with a dissertation on the political thought of Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
. He also taught at Yale, in his words "briefly and unhappily."
Prior to attending Yale he was poetry editor of Reflections, a small literary magazine published in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, in the early 1960s and was active in the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. After leaving Yale Savage spent several years in France. He returned to South Carolina in 1980, settling in the small coastal village of McClellanville. In 2004 he moved to Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, where he now lives. Before writing, he worked as a bicycle mechanic, carpenter, crab fisherman, and letterpress printer.
He is married to Nora Manheim, daughter of the noted literary translator Ralph Manheim
Ralph Manheim
Ralph Frederick Manheim was an American translator of German and French literature, as well as occasional works from Dutch, Polish and Hungarian...
. They have two children. Savage also has a son by a previous marriage.
Savage is the author of three novels. The first was a novel in verse, The Criminal Life of Effie O., published in 2005 and described as a “children’s book for adults.” It is illustrated by Virginia Beverley (Savage). In 2006 Coffee House Press
Coffee House Press
Coffee House Press is a nonprofit independent press based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The press’s goal is to "produce books that celebrate imagination, innovation in the craft of writing, and the many authentic voices of the American experience." It is widely considered to be among the top five...
published Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife, a darkly humorous story about a bookstore rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
in difficult times. In 2007 the Spanish publishing house Seix Barral purchased the world rights to Firmin, including English-language rights. The novel subsequently became a 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...
in Europe and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. The Cry of the Sloth, published in 2009, is a tragic-comic novel that recounts the downhill slide of a failed literary man. The novel is composed of every word the protagonist writes over a period of four months, including letters, novel drafts, newspaper advertisements, and grocery lists.