J.P. Donleavy
| J. P. Donleavy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James Patrick Donleavy 23 April 1926 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Residence | Mullingar, County Westmeath |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
| Known for |
The Ginger Man A Fairy Tale of New York |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) |
|
| Awards | Bord Gáis Lifetime Achievement Award |
James Patrick Donleavy (born 23 April 1926) is an Irish-American novelist and playwright. His first novel is The Ginger Man. Another novel, A Fairy Tale of New York, provided the title of the famous song "Fairytale of New York".
Born in New York City to Irish emigrant parents and receiving his education at various schools in the United States, he served in the US Navy during World War II. After the war ended, he moved to Ireland. In 1946 he began studying at Trinity College, Dublin, but left in 1949 before taking a degree. He was first published in the Dublin literary periodical, Envoy. He gained critical acclaim with his first novel, The Ginger Man, which is one of the Modern Library 100 best novels. The novel was banned in Ireland and the United States by reason of obscenity. Lead character Sebastian Dangerfield was in part based on Trinity College companion Gainor Crist, an American Navy veteran also studying at Trinity College on the G. I. Bill, whom Donleavy once described in an interview as a 'saint,' though of a Rabelaisian kind Correctly or incorrectly, his initial works are sometimes grouped with the Kitchen Sink artists as well as the "Angry Young Men".
Donleavy has lived at Levington Park, a country house on 200 acres (0.81 km2) directly on Lough Owel, near Mullingar, County Westmeath since 1972.
Donleavy declared himself an atheist at the age of 14. He married Valerie Heron in 1946; the couple had two children: Philip (born 1951) and Karen (born 1955). They divorced in 1969. He remarried in 1970 to Mary Wilson Price; that union ended in divorce in 1989.
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