Quick Facts
Biography
Robert Goolrick (born 1948 in Virginia) is an American writer whose first novel sold more than five million copies..
Biography
Robert Goolrick grew up in the 1950s in the small college town of Lexington, Virginia. His father was a college professor. His mother was a homemaker, and he had two siblings. When Goolrick lost his job as an advertising copywriter, he turned to memoir writing. He wrote a memoir and his parents disinherited him, so he moved to New York. The End of the World As We Know It: Scenes from a Life highlighted "the excesses and failures of both the social underpinnings of the time and his parents' inevitable alcohol-fueled decline, culminating in a devastating portrayal of the sexual abuse he suffered as a child." He sought "something resembling peace" in his writing. After years living in New York City, he returned to Virginia. In 2015 he moved from Whitestone, Virginia to Weems, Virginia. He reads from his book "A Reliable Wife" in a video posted for his Facebook followers to which he added, "For people who can't come to a bookstore, this is what I look like and what I sound like, thanks to my friend Ashraf Meer."
Works
- 2007: The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life, Algonquin Books, ISBN 978-1565124813
- 2009: A Reliable Wife, Algonquin Books, ISBN 978-1565125964
- 2012: Heading Out to Wonderful, Algonquin Books, ISBN 978-1565129238
- 2015: The Fall of Princes, Algonquin Books, ISBN 978-1616204204
- 2018: The Dying of the Light, Harper, ISBN 978-0062678225
Works translated into French
- 2009: Une femme simple et honnête, [« A Reliable Wife »], translation byMarie de Prémonville, Paris, Éditions Anne Carrière, 413 p. ISBN 978-2-84337-542-2
- 2010: Féroces, [« The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life »], translated by Marie de Prémonville, Éditions Anne Carrière, 254 p. ISBN 978-2-8433-7579-8.
- 2012: Arrive un vagabond, [« Heading Out to Wonderful »], translation by Marie de Prémonville, Éditions Anne Carrière, 319 p. ISBN 978-2-84337-681-8
- - Prix Laurent-Bonelli Virgin-Lire 2012
- - Grand prix des lectrices de Elle 2013.
- 2014: La Chute des princes [« The Fall of Princes »], translation by Marie de Prémonville, Éditions Anne Carrière, 360 p. ISBN 978-2-8433-7737-2.
- 2017: Après l’incendie, followed by the short story Trois lamentations, Éditions Anne Carrière, 300 p. ISBN 978-2-84337-828-7
Book recommendations by Goolrick for children
Robert Goolrick listed his six favorite books for children: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss; Canada by Richard Ford; The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn; The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson; and Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.
Prizes
- 2013: Grand prix des lectrices de Elle for Arrive un vagabond (Heading Out to Wonderful)
- 2015: Prix Fitzgerald for La Chute des princes