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Frederick Reuss

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Frederick Reuss (born 1960) is an American writer and author of six seriocomic novels, including his debut, Horace Afoot (1997), which was named a New York Times Notable Book.[1] Reuss' writing has been called "cosmopolitan, contemplative, contemporary prose."[2] All of his novels explore the question of whether modern personal identity is still inviolable and, if so, how it is affected by external, cultural forces. He is best known for Mohr (2006), a highly regarded work of speculative fiction based on a collection of letters, papers, and vintage family photographs owned by the playwright Max Mohr [de] (1891–1937), a German-Jewish physician who exiled himself to Shanghai in the early 1930s as the Nazis were coming to power in Germany. On reading Mohr, art critic John Berger remarked that Reuss' "aerialist's sense of history, his sleight of hand, his animal knowledge of political practice, his silver tact and his cool tenderness make his performance nothing less than Orphic."[3]

Novels

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  • Horace Afoot. Denver: MacMurray & Beck, 1997 WorldCat[4]
  • Henry of Atlantic City: A Novel. NY: MacMurray & Beck, 1999 WorldCat[5]
  • The Wasties: A Novel. NY: Pantheon, 2002 WorldCat[6]
  • Mohr. Denver: Unbridled Books, 2007 WorldCat[7]
  • A Geography of Secrets. Denver: Unbridled Books, 2010 WorldCat[8]
  • Maisie at 8000 Feet: A Novel. Denver: Unbridled Books, 2016 WorldCat[9]

Other writing

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Reuss' decades-long association with the Department of Anthropology in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution has resulted in several non-fiction works. In Saynday Was Coming Along... (1993), Reuss retold a collection of Kiowa trickster tales collected in the late 19th century by U.S. Army officer Hugh L. Scott; the work accompanied a Smithsonian traveling exhibition of drawings by the Kiowa artist Silver Horn.[10] Reuss also contributed to A Guide to the Kiowa Collections at the Smithsonian Institution (1997), the product of a collaborative research project exploring the extensive Kiowa art and ethnology collections maintained by the Department of Anthropology.[11]

Interviews and addresses

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  • David Lazar. "Fact, Truth, and Fiction: An Interview with Novelist Frederick Reuss." Bulletin of the German Historical Institute, Vol 40 (Spring 2007), pp. 52–68.[12]
  • "A Geography of Secrets Author Explores His Secrets during Radio Interview." CSM Connections. February 28, 2011.[13]
  • "The Question, What is a Map? Is More Relevant than Ever." The National Map Users Conference. Opening remarks and plenary speakers, Thursday, May 12, 2011.[14]

Life

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Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1960, while his father, a career foreign service officer with the United States Information Agency (USIA), was stationed there. Reuss spent much of his youth in India and Germany. He holds a BA in political philosophy from Antioch College (1983) and lives in Washington, DC.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Notable Books of 1998". The New York Times. 6 December 1998.
  2. ^ "A Geography of Secrets".
  3. ^ John Berger, blurb on Mohr book jacket.
  4. ^ Reviews of Horace Afoot:
    • Sacks, David (28 December 1997). "Nowhere Man: The hero of this first novel is on the run from intimacy, responsibility and pop culture". The New York Times. ProQuest 109683710.
    • Steinberg, Sybil (15 September 1997). "Horace Afoot". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 244, no. 38. ProQuest 197006176.
    • Pearl, Nancy (15 October 1997). "Horace Afoot". Booklist. Vol. 94, no. 4. ProQuest 235407462.
    • Sullivan, Patrick (1 October 1997). "Horace Afoot". Library Journal. Vol. 122, no. 16. ProQuest 196800661.
    • "Horace Afoot". Kirkus Reviews. No. 18. 15 September 1997. ProQuest 917370393.
  5. ^ Reviews of Henry of Atlantic City:
    • Harlan, Megan (28 November 1999). "Henry of Atlantic City". The New York Times. ProQuest 110026961.
    • See, Carolyn (12 November 1999). "The Vision of a Child, Wild and Wise". The Washington Post. ProQuest 408560155.
    • Augenbraum, Harold (July 1999). "Henry of Atlantic City". Library Journal. Vol. 124, no. 12. ProQuest 196801113.
    • Steinberg, Sybil (28 June 1999). "Henry of Atlantic City". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 246, no. 26. ProQuest 197039058.
  6. ^ Reviews of The Wasties:
    • Wilkinson, Joanne (July 2002). "The Wasties". Booklist. Vol. 98, no. 21. ProQuest 235488393.
    • Zaleski, Jeff (29 July 2002). "The Wasties". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 249, no. 30. ProQuest 197044224.
    • Cohen, Joshua (August 2002). "The Wasties". Library Journal. Vol. 127, no. 13. ProQuest 196793408.
    • "The Wasties". Kirkus Reviews. No. 12. 15 June 2002. ProQuest 917317719.
  7. ^ Reviews of Mohr:
    • Franklin, Ruth (23 July 2006). "The Vanishing; In 1934, a writer left his wife and daughter for a trip to Shanghai -- and never returned". The Washington Post. ProQuest 410113545.
    • "Mohr: A Novel". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 253, no. 20. 15 May 2006. ProQuest 197083914.
    • "Mohr". Library Journal. Vol. 131, no. 6. 1 April 2006. ProQuest 196804996.
  8. ^ Reviews of A Geography of Secrets:
    • Gaughan, Thomas (August 2010). "A Geography of Secrets". Booklist. Vol. 106, no. 22. ProQuest 749406702.
    • Bankhead, Henry (1 August 2010). "Fiction reviews". Library Journal. Vol. 135, no. 13. ProQuest 818784748.
    • Stashower, Daniel (28 September 2010). "Shadowy worlds, alluringly illuminated". The Washington Post. ProQuest 755080499.
  9. ^ Reviews of Maisie at 8000 Feet:
  10. ^ Reuss, Frederick J.; Greene, Candace S.; Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (1993). Saynday Was Coming Along. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  11. ^ Merrill, William L.; Hansson, Marian Kaulaity; Greene, Candace S.; Reuss, Frederick J. (1997). A Guide to the Kiowa Collections at the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology. Vol. 40. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 1–443. doi:10.5479/si.00810223.40.1.
  12. ^ "Bulletin 40 (Spring 2007) – GHI Washington".
  13. ^ "CSM Connections Presents Frederick Reuss March 4". 28 February 2011.
  14. ^ "The National Map Users Conference: Short Interviews with Attendees | U.S. Geological Survey". 12 May 2011.
  15. ^ Winters, Pamela Murray (October 25, 2002). "Master of Allusion". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2025-05-16.

Further reading

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  • Thompson, Bob (10 July 2006). "A Murky Picture, Developed And Enlarged; Novelist Frederick Reuss Fleshes Out a Family Album". The Washington Post. ProQuest 410059167.
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