Robert Cormier
Robert Edmund Cormier (born January 7, 1925 in Leominster , Massachusetts , † November 2, 2000 in Boston ) was an American writer and journalist .
Life
Robert Cormier grew up in Leominster, where he married his wife and had four children.
He started writing when he was still in school. His first short story was published at the age of 19 . His teacher Florence Conlon , without his knowledge, posted one of his stories to The Sign , a Catholic magazine.
Cormier began his career with radio copywriting and later became a respected journalist. He worked as a newspaper reporter and columnist for 30 years and was mainly influenced by current events, but also by his environment, in his texts.
After the success of his first book, The Chocolate War , Cormier concentrated entirely on writing. He mainly dealt with the problems of young people in modern society, which is reflected in his stories. Cormier won many awards. Robert Cormier died of a blood clot on November 2, 2000 .
Several of his books were made into films, for example the 2009 film Tenderness - On the Killer Trail . Nine years earlier, The Bumblebee Flies Anyway hit US cinemas with Elijah Wood .
Awards and honors (selection)
- 1991 Margaret A. Edwards Award for Great Merit in Youth Literature (ALA)
- 1997 Phoenix Award for I Am the Cheese
- 1997 Catholic children's and youth book award for Just a Little Something
- 1998 ALA Best Books for Young Adults for Tenderness
- 1999 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Frenchtown Summer
- 2002 ALA Best Books for Young Adults for The Rag and Bone Shop
Works
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The Chocolate War. 1974.
- German: The chocolate war. Bertelsmann, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-570-30131-1 .
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I am the cheese. 1977.
- German: I am what remains. Bertelsmann, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-570-30017-X .
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After the first death. 1979.
- German: On the railway bridge. Bertelsmann, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-570-30006-4 .
- There has been a lot of discussion about this book; one of the best known revolves around an (allegedly) conducted interview with Cormier, in which he talks about the fact that one of the protagonists, Ben, is not the only one who has kept some kind of diary. The discussions have divided the camps of readers: One side speculates whether Ben's father, General Marchand, is the other ominous writer and is also already dead, so that only Ben's mother could be a reader of this letter. The other side claims the entire interview was a hoax. It remains questionable whether Cormier himself knew about this discussion, as he did not provide any explanatory comments.
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The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. 1983.
- German: Deadly experiments. Bertelsmann, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-570-30057-9 .
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Beyond the Chocolate War. 1985.
- German: The black box. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-596-85010-X .
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Fade. 1988.
- German: faded out. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-596-85038-X .
- Other Bells for Us to Ring. 1990.
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We All Fall Down . 1991, ISBN 0-385-30501-X .
- German: ominous minutes. Bertelsmann, 2003, ISBN 3-570-30014-5 .
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Tunes for Bears to Dance To. 1992.
- German: Just a little thing. Carlsen, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-551-37113-X .
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In the middle of the night. 1995.
- German: At night when the shadows fall. Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-7941-4320-5 .
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Tenderness. 1997.
- German: tenderness. Bertelsmann, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-570-30026-9 .
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Heroes. 1998.
- German: Heros. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-596-85061-4 .
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Frenchtown Summer. 1999.
- German: A summer in Frenchtown. Bertelsmann, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-570-12723-0 .
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The Rag and Bone Shop. 2001.
- German: The interrogation. Bertelsmann, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-570-30154-0 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Robert Cormier in the catalog of the German National Library
- Short biography and reviews of works by Robert Cormier at perlentaucher.de
- Robert Cormier in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Robert Cormier on Random House Books
- Author profile: Robert Cormier - Interview April 2000
- Robert Cormier in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Obituary in the New York Times
- Obituary in the Guardian
- Review overview of books for young people by Robert Cormier at Jugendbuchtipps.de
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Cormier, Robert |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cormier, Robert Edmund |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American writer and journalist |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 7, 1925 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Leominster , Massachusetts , United States |
DATE OF DEATH | November 2, 2000 |
Place of death | Boston , United States |