Evan S Connell obituary

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jan/14/evan-s-connell

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In 2009, when he was nominated for the Man Booker international prize, Evan S Connell was little known to the general public. Over a career that spanned more than half a century, Connell, who has died aged 88, avoided the spotlight and shunned academia, but he established himself as a writer's writer. His 19 books, which ventured into unpredictable subjects, included short stories, poetry, essays and non-fiction.

He was best known for his debut novel, Mrs Bridge (1959), which with its sequel, Mr Bridge (1969), was made into the Merchant Ivory film Mr and Mrs Bridge (1990), starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Son of the Morning Star (1985), Connell's magnificent study of General Custer's last stand, was described by the writer Larry McMurtry as "one of the few masterpieces to concern itself with the American west".

Connell's work often reflected elements of his own life. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, where his father and grandfather were doctors; he was expected to enter into the family practice, rather than pursue writing. "[My father] was concerned that I would never be able to make a living at this kind of thing – it was a justifiable concern," he said.

He left Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, after two years to join the US navy in 1943, becoming a pilot and falling in love with New Mexico, where he did his flight training. After the second world war, he finished his degree at the University of Kansas, and used the GI bill to study painting and creative writing at Stanford in California, Columbia in New York and San Francisco State University. He lived briefly in Paris, where he began writing stories for the Paris Review, and published his first collection of short stories, The Anatomy Lesson (1957), to glowing reviews.

Mrs Bridge, published two years later, might be seen as one of the best novels in the budding genre of American suburban fiction, also explored by John Updike, Richard Yates, John Cheever and Philip Roth (to whose Goodbye, Columbus Mrs Bridge lost the National Book award).

Connell's novel was set during the Depression, in Kansas City, where India Bridge is married to the stiff, proper lawyer Walter. Written from her point of view, in small vignettes that emphasise the disconnection of her world, the novel is a brilliant portrait of emotional repression in the thrall of respectability. A decade later, Mr Bridge appeared, reflecting the added difficulty of approaching a character far more withdrawn than his wife. The Merchant Ivory film, although stunning in many ways, is hampered by the limitations of trying to portray characters who express almost none of their feelings.

Connell's second novel, The Patriot (1960), drew on his wartime experiences and was less successful. He published a book of poetry and another book of short stories, supporting himself in a series of odd jobs, including as an interviewer in an unemployment office in San Francisco. This was the job he gave the psychologically crumbling protagonist of his dark third novel, The Diary of a Rapist (1966). After Mr Bridge, a second poetry collection and two more novels made little impact, but in 1979 he published A Long Desire, followed two years later by The White Lantern. The theme for these two collections of essays might be considered to be the search for knowledge about subjects, such as ancient civilisations, about which we can never be totally sure. Similarly, Connell's fictional characters never seem to really know themselves or those closest to them.

Major publishers turned down Son of the Morning Star, which was accepted by North Point Press, a small outfit in Berkeley, California, which had a national distribution deal with a larger New York firm. The book became a bestseller and inspired a 1991 TV production which, along with the film Mr and Mrs Bridge, afforded Connell some financial security.

He moved to New Mexico, and continued producing eclectic work, including the novels The Alchymist's Journal (1991) and Deus Lo Volt! (2000), the latter set during the Crusades, and a 2004 biography of Francisco Goya. He continued to turn down teaching jobs, living simply, and hiding his television in a closet, bringing it out only to watch American football matches.

Recognition came in a rush in recent years, including a lifetime achievement award from the Lannan Foundation in 2000. His final book, a collection of stories called Lost in Uttar Pradesh, was published in 2008.

He is survived by his sister, Barbara.

<em>• </em>Evan Shelby Connell, writer, born 17 August 1924; found dead 10 January 2013