Michael Cunningham gets
all the little things right in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel
The
Hours. Rarely missing a telling detail or a larger emotional
truth, he masterfully explores the quiet, private moments of
a life. Crediting Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway
with allowing him to entertain “the wild hope” of
being a writer, Cunningham deftly evokes fleeting thoughts and
states of consciousness in his books.
Michael Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1952 and
grew up in La Canada, California. He received his B.A. in English
Literature from Stanford University and his M.F.A. from the
University of Iowa. His novel A
Home at the End of the World was published by Farrar, Straus
& Giroux in 1990 to wide acclaim. Flesh
and Blood, another novel, followed in 1995. He received
the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award
for his novel, The
Hours. He has written one nonfiction book, Land's
End: A Walk Through Provincetown. He is also the
author of Specimen
Days (June 2005).
A film version of The
Hours was directed by Stephen Daldry and featured Julianne
Moore, Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep. A film version of A
Home at the End of the World was directed by Michael
Mayer, and featured Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Dallas
Roberts and Sissy Spacek. Cunningham and Susan Minot co-wrote
the screenplay for her novel Evening; the film stars Vanessa
Redgrave, Claire Danes, Toni Colette, Patrick Wilson, and Meryl
Streep.
Cunningham's work has
appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly,
The Paris Review, and other publications. His story “White
Angel” was chosen for Best American Short Stories 1989,
and another story, “Mister Brother,” appeared in
the 2000 O. Henry Collection.
Michael Cunningham is the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award
(1995), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1993), a National Endowment
for the Arts Fellowship (1988), and a Michener Fellowship from
the University of Iowa (1982).
•••
“The overall
impression is that of a delicate, triumphant glance, an acknowledgement
of Woolf that takes her into Cunningham’s own territory,
a place of late-century danger but also of treasurable hours.”
— The New York
Times Book Review on The Hours
“Michael Cunningham’s
reading at Boston College last month was a remarkable event.
There is a sense of intimacy in his presence, as if he is reading
and speaking directly to each member of the audience.”
— Boston College
“Michael Cunningham’s
novel The Hours is that rare combination: a smashing
literary tour de force and an utterly invigorating reading experience.
If this book does not make you jump up from the sofa, looking
at life and literature in new ways, check to see if you have
a pulse.”
