Brody, Harold

Born in the family of a poor Jew - an emigrant from Russia. After the death of his mother ( 1932 ), the father of the future writer, who suffered from alcoholism, transferred his son to cousin's education. The boy moved to St. Louis and took the name of his new parents, who called him Harold. When Brody was 13 years old, his adoptive father died, while the adoptive mother fell ill with cancer.

In 1947, Brody entered Harvard University and graduated in 1952 with a degree in literary criticism.

In the 1950s, he was an employee of the NBC television company, for which he wrote scripts. In 1954, his first short stories appeared in The New Yorker. Four years later, a short story collection, First Love and Other Troubles, is released. Brody's first works tell of the childhood and youthful experiences of the author, a lyrical hero.

In 1962, Brody divorced his wife, with whom he had been married for 10 years. At that time, the writer had homosexual relationships, about which he spoke in part of his works. In 1980, he remarried, to actress Ellen Schwamm.

In 1988 , Brody’s second short story collection (written since 1963 ), “Almost Classic Stories,” was released. The themes of the works are largely autobiographical: in the center there is a psychologically subtle depiction of childhood, especially childish sexuality. The novel “Runaway Soul”, published in 1991, was written in the same spirit. In it, Brody describes the sexual experiences of the main character Silenovich, who is trying to overcome the consequences of the blows of fate received in childhood.

In 1992, a private Italian publisher publishes Brody’s new novel, Vicious Friendship. In 1994 , English and German editions followed, and in 1995 , in French. The novel tells the story of the friendship of two Venetian boys who do not miss each other out of sight and become adults.

In June 1993, Brody confessed to being infected with HIV . The writer sums up his life against the backdrop of this disease in 1994 in an article entitled “Dying Off Deadline,” published in The New Yorker.

Harold Brodka’s work provoked a controversial reaction from critics: some praised him as American Proust for the intensity of the description of feelings and the soulful, detailed depiction of emotional life, while others reacted indignantly to such a “firework of emotions”.

Storybooks

• “First love and other troubles” ( 1958 );
• “Almost Classic Stories” ( 1988 );
• "The World is the Home of Love and Death" ( 1997 ).

Novels

• “The Runaway Soul” (“Runaway Soul”, 1991 );
• Profane Friendship (Vicious Friendship, 1992 , first published in its original language in 1994 ).

• First Love (directed by Joan Darling ) based on the story “Sentimental Education” (First Love).
• Love and other troubles (directed by Steve Homer ) from the story of the same name (Love and other sorrows).

When writing this article, a biographical dictionary “100 Writers of the 20th Century” was used (translation from German, Ural Ltd, 1999).