Seymour Krim
Encyclopedia
Seymour Krim was an American author
, editor
and literary critic. He is often categorized with the writers of the Beat Generation
. Krim was a respected essayist, and wrote a number of books including Views of a Nearsighted Cannoneer (1961), Shake It For The World, Smartass (1970), The Beats (1960; editor), Manhattan: Stories of a Great City (1954; editor), Maugham the Artist, You and Me (1974), and a posthumous compilation entitled What's This Cat's Story? that includes an introductory essay by James Wolcott
. Krim was an influential journalist, reviewer and magazine editor. He wrote for the Village Voice, Playboy, New York Element and International Times, among many other publications. He worked for a time at The New Yorker
, where Brendan Gill
recalled he was often "stripped to the waist."
Krim was part of the New Journalism
movement of the 1960s. His deepest foray into daily journalism began in 1965 when he joined the New York Herald Tribune
's staff which included Jimmy Breslin
, Tom Wolfe
and Dick Schaap
. While at the Trib for the last months of its life, he wrote articles that stirred a response among the city's literati as well as in the city room. His big, rolling prose was often laced with a startling, often funny, candor that connected with the emerging creative mind. It was said that many an aspiring writer coming to New York City to find wisdom and success hoped to bump into Krim upon arrival in Greenwich Village. In his introduction to Jack Kerouac's novel Desolation Angels, published in 1965, Krim brilliantly made the case for Kerouac's place in the annals of American literature.
Krim was born in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, and spent much of his time in New York City
. He taught writing seminars at a number of universities in the United States and abroad (including Mexico and Israel). For several years during the early 1980s he served as head of The Writers Workshop in Iowa City. In 1960, he was given the Longview Award for Literature. In 1976 he won a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and in 1985 a Fulbright grant. After suffering from a number of physical setbacks, including a debilitating heart attack
, Krim took his life in his one room apartment on East 10th Street by an overdose of barbiturate
s on August 30, 1989, at the age of 67 years, 3 months, and 19 days.
In the years since his death, Krim's work has been excluded from almost every Beat anthology, including "The Portable Beat Reader," "The Beat Book," "The Birth of the Beat Generation" and the "Rolling Stone Book of the Beats." The reason for this exclusion is not clear, though the fact that the Beat movement is closely associated with poetry -- and Krim was no poet -- may have contributed to his omission. Still, Krim retains champions who have kept some of his essays in print. Phillip Lopate published Krim's "For My Brothers and Sisters in the Failure Business" in his 1997 anthology, The Art of the Personal Essay. In 2001, Saul Bellow included "What's This Cat's Story?" in Editors: The Best from Five Decades. And in 2001, critic Vivian Gornick
praised Krim as "a Jewish Joan Didion" in her book, "The Situation and the Story." Gornick also included Krim's "Failure Business" on her list of the Ten Greatest Essays, Ever.
A new collection of Krim's work from Syracuse University Press, Missing a Beat: The Rants and Regrets of Seymour Krim, edited and with an introduction by Mark Cohen, argues that Krim should be seen primarily as a Jewish American author and part of the same cultural and literary moment that in the late 1950s and early 1960s brought to prominence Philip Roth
, Saul Bellow
, Norman Mailer
, and other writers that made Jewish American literature
prominent at that time.
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:...
, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
and literary critic. He is often categorized with the writers of the Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
. Krim was a respected essayist, and wrote a number of books including Views of a Nearsighted Cannoneer (1961), Shake It For The World, Smartass (1970), The Beats (1960; editor), Manhattan: Stories of a Great City (1954; editor), Maugham the Artist, You and Me (1974), and a posthumous compilation entitled What's This Cat's Story? that includes an introductory essay by James Wolcott
James Wolcott
James Wolcott is an American journalist, known for his critique of contemporary media. Wolcott is the cultural critic for Vanity Fair and contributes to The New Yorker. He also writes a blog....
. Krim was an influential journalist, reviewer and magazine editor. He wrote for the Village Voice, Playboy, New York Element and International Times, among many other publications. He worked for a time at The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, where Brendan Gill
Brendan Gill
Brendan Gill wrote for The New Yorker for more than 60 years. He also contributed film criticism for Film Comment and wrote a popular book about his time at the New Yorker magazine.-Biography:...
recalled he was often "stripped to the waist."
Krim was part 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...
movement of the 1960s. His deepest foray into daily journalism began in 1965 when he joined the New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
's staff which included Jimmy Breslin
Jimmy Breslin
Jimmy Breslin is an American journalist and author. He currently writes a column for the New York Daily News' Sunday edition. He has written numerous novels, and columns of his have appeared regularly in various newspapers in his hometown of New York City...
, 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:...
and Dick Schaap
Dick Schaap
Richard Jay Schaap was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author.-Early life and education:...
. While at the Trib for the last months of its life, he wrote articles that stirred a response among the city's literati as well as in the city room. His big, rolling prose was often laced with a startling, often funny, candor that connected with the emerging creative mind. It was said that many an aspiring writer coming to New York City to find wisdom and success hoped to bump into Krim upon arrival in Greenwich Village. In his introduction to Jack Kerouac's novel Desolation Angels, published in 1965, Krim brilliantly made the case for Kerouac's place in the annals of American literature.
Krim was born in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, and spent much of his time in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He taught writing seminars at a number of universities in the United States and abroad (including Mexico and Israel). For several years during the early 1980s he served as head of The Writers Workshop in Iowa City. In 1960, he was given the Longview Award for Literature. In 1976 he won a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and in 1985 a Fulbright grant. After suffering from a number of physical setbacks, including a debilitating heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, Krim took his life in his one room apartment on East 10th Street by an overdose of barbiturate
Barbiturate
Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants...
s on August 30, 1989, at the age of 67 years, 3 months, and 19 days.
In the years since his death, Krim's work has been excluded from almost every Beat anthology, including "The Portable Beat Reader," "The Beat Book," "The Birth of the Beat Generation" and the "Rolling Stone Book of the Beats." The reason for this exclusion is not clear, though the fact that the Beat movement is closely associated with poetry -- and Krim was no poet -- may have contributed to his omission. Still, Krim retains champions who have kept some of his essays in print. Phillip Lopate published Krim's "For My Brothers and Sisters in the Failure Business" in his 1997 anthology, The Art of the Personal Essay. In 2001, Saul Bellow included "What's This Cat's Story?" in Editors: The Best from Five Decades. And in 2001, critic Vivian Gornick
Vivian Gornick
Vivian Gornick is an American critic, essayist, and memoirist. For many years she wrote for the Village Voice. She currently teaches writing at The New School. For the 2007-2008 academic year, she was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University...
praised Krim as "a Jewish Joan Didion" in her book, "The Situation and the Story." Gornick also included Krim's "Failure Business" on her list of the Ten Greatest Essays, Ever.
A new collection of Krim's work from Syracuse University Press, Missing a Beat: The Rants and Regrets of Seymour Krim, edited and with an introduction by Mark Cohen, argues that Krim should be seen primarily as a Jewish American author and part of the same cultural and literary moment that in the late 1950s and early 1960s brought to prominence Philip Roth
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
, Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
, 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 other writers that made Jewish American literature
Jewish American literature
Jewish American Literature holds an essential place in the literary history of the United States. It encompasses traditions of writing in English, primarily, as well as in other languages, the most important of which has been Yiddish...
prominent at that time.