Corrington, John William 1932-1988

views updated

CORRINGTON, John William 1932-1988

PERSONAL: Born October 28, 1932, in Memphis, TN; died of a heart attack, November 24, 1988, in Malibu, CA; son of John Wesley (an insurance adjuster) and Viva (Shelley) Corrington; married Joyce Elaine Hooper (a chemistry professor and writer), February 6, 1960; children: Shelley, John, Robert, Thomas. Education: Centenary College of Louisiana, B.A., 1956; Rice University, M.A., 1960; University of Sussex, D.Phil., 1964; Tulane University, J.D., 1975. Politics: Independent. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: American history, sports, travel, music, philosophy and religion of India.

CAREER: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, instructor, 1960-65, assistant professor of English, 1965-66; Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, associate professor of English, 1966-73, chairman of department, 1966-68, and 1969-70; private practice of law in New Orleans, 1975-79; head writer, with wife, Joyce Hooper Corrington, of television series for Columbia Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (CBS-TV), including Search for Tomorrow, 1978-80, Texas, 1980-81, General Hospital, 1982, and Capitol, 1982. Visiting professor of modern literature, University of California—Berkeley, 1968. Spent about two years in Europe as foreign correspondent for Houston Post and as lecturer in contemporary literature.

AWARDS, HONORS: Charioteer Poetry Prize, 1962, for Where We Are; National Endowment for the Arts Award, 1968, for short story "To Carthage Then I Came."

WRITINGS:

poetry

Where We Are, Charioteer Press (Washington, DC), 1962.

The Anatomy of Love and Other Poems, Roman Books (Fort Lauderdale, FL), 1964.

Mr. Clean and Other Poems, Amber House Press (San Francisco, CA), 1964.

Lines to the South and Other Poems, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1965.

Poems represented in anthologies, including 19 Poetas de hoy en los Estados Unidos, edited by Miller Williams, Ministerio de Education Publica (Chile), 1966, Black and White Culture in America, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1969, and Contemporary Poetry in America, edited by Miller Williams, Random House (New York, NY), 1973.

novels

And Wait for the Night, Putnam (New York, NY), 1964.

The Upper Hand, Putnam (New York, NY), 1967.

The Bombardier, Putnam (New York, NY), 1970.

Shad Sentell, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1984.

(With wife, Joyce H. Corrington) So Small a Carnival, Viking (New York, NY), 1986.

(With wife, Joyce H. Corrington) A Project Named Desire, Viking (New York, NY), 1987.

All My Trials (two novellas), University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 1987.

(With wife, Joyce H. Corrington) A Civil Death, Viking (New York, NY), 1987.

(With wife, Joyce H. Corrington) The White Zone, Viking (New York, NY), 1990.

short stories

The Lonesome Traveler and Other Stories, Putnam (New York, NY), 1968.

The Actes and Monuments, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 1978.

The Southern Reporter, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), The Collected Stories of John William Corrington, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 1989.

Short stories represented in anthologies, including Best American Short Stores, edited by Martha Foley, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1973, 1976, 1977 and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, edited by William Abrahams, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1976.

nonfiction

(Contributor) D. E. Standord, editor, Nine Essays in Modern Literature, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1965.

(Editor, with Miller Williams, and author of introduction) Southern Writing in the Sixties, two volumes, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1966–67.

Contributor to James Joyce's "Dubliners": Critical Essays, edited by Clive Hart, Viking (New York, NY), 1969, and Eric Voegelin's Search for Order in History, edited by Stephen A. McNight, 1978.

screenplays; with wife, joyce h. corrington

Von Richthofen and Brown, United Artists, 1970 (later released as The Red Baron, 1971).

I Am Legend, Warner Brothers, 1971 (later released as The Omega Man, 1971).

Box Car Bertha, American International Production, 1972.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1973.

The Arena, New World Pictures, 1973.

Killer Bees, Worldvision Enterprises, 1974.

other

Contributor of poetry, fiction, and criticism to Kenyon Review, Massachusetts Review, Outsider, Georgia Review, James Joyce Quarterly, Southern Literary Journal, Dalhousie Review, Sewanee Review, Southern Review, and numerous other periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS: John William Corrington was a versatile man who found varying degrees of success as an educator, lawyer, producer, and author. He was respected as a writer of good fiction and poetry in the American Southern tradition, but he was as comfortable and adept at turning out daily scripts for television soap operas. He was an author "of little fame but much talent," according to Sylvia Shorris in Nation. Corrington's fiction typically portrays "the soul's metaphoric quest for spiritual wholeness," mused James D. Wilson in a Dictionary of Literary Biography essay. "He thrives on paradox, irony, and self-contradiction; his fiction offers a gallery of Southern stereotypes—most of whom border on the grotesque—and implausible plots. Yet because of Corrington's superior craftsmanship, the often absurd juxtaposition of characters and events seems authentic and, at its best, yields profound insight into the nature and ambiguity of evil."

Most of Corrington's poetry and fiction deal with the South, reflecting his interest in that region's culture and literature. Corrington and Miller Williams, his coeditor on Southern Writing in the Sixties, gave a definition of a what constitutes a Southern writer in the introduction to their book. It included "a strong concern with religion of the Calvinist variety; a deep awareness of the past; a pervasive feeling for the land; [and] a powerful sense of responsibility, not only to others but also for the self," reported Granville Hicks in Saturday Review.

Many reviewers have noted that Corrington possessed an awareness of the past. This emphasis, coupled with the author's Southern heritage, has often led to comparisons between Corrington and William Faulkner, another Southern writer also noted for his tendency to dwell on past events. David Montrose explained the basis for this comparison in a Times Literary Supplement review: "Corrington's principal preoccupation is the Faulknerian one of the past intruding into the present. Typically, his protagonists are old, unable to come to terms with the modern world." James R. Frakes, in New York Times Book Review, suggested an even stronger affiliation between Corrington and Faulkner, listing a number of themes common to both men, including "the weight of time, the comedy of pure honor, the inescapable burden of the past, [and] the agony of loss." Frakes stated that the use of so many Faulknerian themes by a Southern author invites a "hopeless comparison" to Faulkner. However, Frakes praised Corrington for taking this chance and obtaining favorable results: "[Corrington] runs all the risks, … even echoes style and characterization. And somehow he remains his own man throughout."

Barry Targan, a contributor to Washington Post Book World, also noted the similarities of theme between Corrington and Faulkner, but he emphasized the originality of Corrington's work. Targan wrote: "One is surprised by the freshness with which he uses an old and honorable tradition. Just when we think that the Southern Voice of Faulkner … has been played out or attenuated by innumerable mimics, along comes Corrington to wring from it a familiar but invigorated music." Because of his interest in the past, the focus of Corrington's writing is often on "that supremely important event in Southern history, the War Between the States," according to Hicks. Many of Corrington's stories, as well as his nonfiction works, deal with the Civil War period or with the effects of the war on Southern life, even contemporary Southern life. Summarizing the author's attitude, Frakes quoted a line from one of Corrington's stories: "'That war shaped all our destinies…. The years only diminish the influence; they do not erase it.'"

Corrington's first novel, And Wait for the Night, takes place in Shreveport in the summer of 1865. The book treats the aftermath of the Civil War, replete with conflicting loyalties and ruined fortunes. And Wait for the Night was not intended to be judged on its historical accuracy, but instead it "re-creates the Southern frame of mind during the closing days of the Civil War as the novel portrays the moral and social chaos of a civilization in abrupt transition," according to Wilson. In presenting a sympathetic portrayal of the Southern role during the Civil War, Corrington earned himself a "reputation of traditional Southern apologist," noted Wilson. Critics felt that in the novel, Corrington was attempting to defend the Confederate position. A Times Literary Supplement reviewer, for instance, called the book "violently partisan" and remarked: "It is one of Mr. Corrington's passionate beliefs that [the Civil War] drags on still, with the South at the mercy of Yankee domination and exploitation." According to Hicks, in And Wait for the Night "Corrington is still trying to demonstrate that the Confederacy should have won the War Between the States."

Corrington examined the many facets of evil in his second novel, The Upper Hand. The story concerns a twenty-nine-year-old priest, Christopher Nieman, who rejects his Roman Catholic beliefs and tries his best to become a rationalist. Changing belief systems does not do away with evil, however, for "it lurks in every nook and cranny of a modern urban environment that in its multi-layered depravity recalls the castle or monastery of eighteenth-century Gothic fiction," commented James D. Wilson in Dictionary of Literary Biography. On his way back to his mother's home in Shreveport, Christopher meets up with a woman who takes him back to her room and makes love to him; later, he finds their encounter may have resulted in her pregnancy. In the second section of the novel, Christopher is in New Orleans, where he is enmeshed in a web of evil that includes drugs, incest, abortion, prostitution, and pornography. Most of the characters embody paradox, including the former Nazi who has hidden his Jewish origins, the apparently innocent flower peddler who is really a vicious heroin dealer, and the porn producer whose dream is to make a socially redeeming film. As the novel draws to a close, Christopher finds that, while he may have officially abdicated his priesthood, he is still functioning as spiritual redeemer to many of the underworld characters he encounters. Wilson remarked that "Corrington succeeds with these characters in large part because he neither condescends nor condemns; he is never righteous about their misdeeds." The Upper Hand was praised by Thomas Lask in the New York Times as "a grimly comic novel, genuinely funny in many places, moving and powerful in others," and Bruce Cook, writing in National Observer, called it "a great, sweaty, dark alley of a book."

The Bombardier is perhaps Corrington's most atypical novel. It follows the lives of six very different men as they prepare to fight in World War II. All of them travel to Dresden, Germany, for bombing missions on that city, which was subsequently reduced almost to rubble. After their military service ended, the six went their separate ways, only to converge again years later at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Wilson commented, "Corrington gives each of his major characters full development, showing particular skill in handling speech patterns. In his exploration of their diverse responses to the bombing raids, and their understanding of contemporary political and social events, Corrington offers a coherent and convincing reading of the American character."

Corrington and his wife, Joyce H. Corrington, collaborated on numerous writing projects, including a series of detective novels featuring Ralph "Rat" Trapp, an African-American homicide detective from New Orleans. The White Zone, A Project Named Desire, and A Civil Death all follow Trapp's investigations, and include some "acute observations on black-white relations," as well as "twists and turns galore," noted Steinberg. In A Project Named Desire, Trapp is taken back to his roots in Desire, the worst housing project in the city of New Orleans. Trapp escaped the squalor of Desire by joining the Army, which led him into law enforcement; his former love found a way out with the help of a rich man. Twenty years later, her rock-star son collapses from an apparent drug overdose; it is unclear whether the incident was an accident, or an attempted murder. As Trapp investigates the case, he finds that his feelings for his old flame are still strong. Reviewing the book for People, Campbell Geeslin praised its "salty, mean dialogue" and "vivid atmosphere." In another Trapp case, A Civil Death, the Corringtons show the colorful mix of cultures that is New Orleans with "originality and subtlety," according to Geeslin in another People review. Rat Trapp is called in to investigate murder in a wealthy publishing family. A Cuban judge, a Cajun thug, and a redneck reporter are all part of the equation he must try to solve. Geeslin found this mystery "more conventional" than A Project Named Desire, yet added, "The suspense builds nicely, and a surprising number of loose ends are neatly linked at the end. Mystery fans won't find anything much better than this."

Corrington's novels, poetry, and short fiction have all won praise, but "his reputation rests most securely on his short stories," decided Geoffrey H. Goodwin in a Dictionary of Literary Biography essay on the author's work. In his short-story collections, "Corrington examined a changing—at times frightening—society, demonstrated by his characters' questionable adherence to the manners and customs of time and place. His stories use metaphors of war, justice, and the human capacity for evil to illuminate vital responses to the moral dilemmas that concerned him," stated Goodwin. "In his fiction Corrington artfully balanced a world of evil with a less obvious world of good. War, justice, and revenge are balanced by family, tradition, and hope. Corrington's well-constructed plot twists with his subtle, dark humor to create a world of honest characters somehow managing to survive…. Over and over Corrington's stories teach the reader that honoring the lessons of the past and respecting history can prevent repeating its mistakes."

Even in his popular mysteries, the character of the South itself is a key part of Corrington's writing; yet, there are critics who have taken issue with the idea that Corrington was only a Southern writer. Arguing against the placement of geographical boundaries on the author's work, they felt that the scope of Corrington's writing is universal. Commenting on TheCollected Stories of John William Corrington, Sybil Steinberg pointed out in Publishers Weekly that the narratives in the book "fearlessly, and generally with success, take on big topics—death, duty, honor, despair." Montrose also noted: "Corrington is no more a regional writer than was Faulkner; his South functions like Yoknpatawpha County, as a backdrop against which wider themes are played." Wilson explained this idea further: "Admittedly Corrington's fiction … focuses on the South and attempts to capture the spiritual quality of a region he knows well…. But Corrington's real concerns are psychological and metaphysical…. Corrington presents in his most characteristic fiction a portrayal of the soul's metaphoric quest for spiritual wholeness." For example, Corrington's second novel, The Upper Hand, according to Wilson, "explores the dimensions and ambiguities of evil…. [It] traces the spiritual progression of its central character." Shorris referred to Corrington's collection of short stories, The Actes and Monuments, as "moral tales…. [In them] Corrington makes his characters as well as his readers squirm." Writing about the South as much as he did, Corrington could not escape the label of "Southern writer"; but, many commentators agree with Hicks's statement that Corrington was "not only a good Southern writer, but a very good writer."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Corrington, John William, and Miller Williams, editors, Southern Writing in the Sixties, two volumes, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1966-67.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 6: American Novelists since World War II, second series, 1980; Volume 244: American Short-Story Writers since World War II, fourth series, 2001.

Mills, William, editor, John William Corrington: Southern Man of Letters, UCA Press (Conway, AR), 1994.

periodicals

ABA Journal, November, 1983, William Domnarski, "A Novelist's Knowing Look at the Law: Short Stories by John William Corrington," pp. 1706-1710.

Christian Science Monitor, July 30, 1964.

Library Journal, January, 1987, JoAnn Vicarel, review of A Project Named Desire, p. 113; September 1, 1987, JoAnn Vicarel, review of A Civil Death, p. 202; October 1, 1990, Rex E. Klett, review of The White Zone, p. 119.

Nation, February 10, 1979.

National Observer, July 17, 1967, Bruce Cook, review of The Upper Hand.

New York Times, July 29, 1967, Thomas Lask, review of The Upper Hand.

New York Times Book Review, July 26, 1964; December 15, 1968; February 25, 1979; February 22, 1987, Newgate Callendar, review of A Project Named Desire, p. 24; October 11, 1987, Polly Morrice, review of All My Trials, p. 56.

People, March 30, 1987, Campbell Geeslin, review of A Project Named Desire, p. 19; September 28, 1987, Campbell Geeslin, review of A Civil Death, p. 17.

Poetry, April, 1966.

Publishers Weekly, April 6, 1984, review of Shad Sentell, p. 66; May 2, 1986, Sybil Steinberg, review of So Small a Carnival, p. 66; November 1, 1986, Sybil Steinberg, review of A Project Named Desire, p. 56; March 27, 1987, John Mutter, review of All My Trials, p. 42; July 17, 1987, Sybil Steinberg, review of A Civil Death, p. 55; September 14, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of The White Zone, p. 113; September 28, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of The Collected Stories of John William Corrington, p. 86.

Saturday Review, May 23, 1964; December 21, 1968.

Southern Living, November, 1988, review of All My Trials, p. 176.

Southern Review, summer, 1989, William Mills, "Risking the Bait: John William Corrington, 1932-1998," p. 586.

Times Literary Supplement, November 19, 1964; September 18, 1981.

Washington Post Book World, August 30, 1981.

Wilson Library Bulletin, April, 1987, Kathleen Maio, review of A Project Named Desire, p. 52.