author
Charles Robert Newman
A restless, inventive American novelist and critic, he became best known for the darkly comic novel White Jazz and for helping shape modern literary culture through his work as an editor. His writing mixed experiment, satire, and sharp cultural observation.
1 Audiobook
Essays in Rationalism
by Charles Robert Newman
About the author
Born in 1938 and active across several roles, he was an American writer, critic, editor, and teacher whose work moved between fiction and literary commentary. He is especially associated with White Jazz, and with a broader body of writing that explored postmodern style, American culture, and the strange textures of contemporary life.
He also had a major influence as an editor. At Northwestern University, he founded TriQuarterly, a magazine that became known for publishing adventurous fiction, international writing, and ambitious criticism. That editorial work helped introduce many readers to bold new voices and ideas.
Alongside editing, he taught at universities including Northwestern and Johns Hopkins, and his reputation has endured both through his own books and through the literary spaces he helped build. He died in 2006.