Robert Cormier 1925 - 2000

1
Robert Cormier1925 - 2000

• Kathryn Kielminski
• LIS722
• Summer I 2006

2
Biography

• Born January 17, 1925
• Lived in Leominster, Massachusetts
• Second of eight children in family
• Attended Fitchburg State College
• Married Connie and raised four children
• Newspaper reporter and columnist
• Died November 2, 2000

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Influences

• Ernest Hemingway
• William Saroyan
• Thomas Wolfe
• J.D. Salinger
• John OHara
• WHAT IF? Is the spark that starts all of my
  writing

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Writing Style

• Protagonists typically are more tragic than not
• I take real people and put them in extraordinary
  situations
• Grim realism
• Tell it like it really is
• Use of simile and metaphor

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Heroes

• I wanted to write Heroes to express how I felt
  about heroism. The impetus came from two
  areasthe 50th anniversary of D-day My heroes
  are the ordinary people who do their duty
  quietly, without fanfare, whether its fighting a
  war or going to work every day. I feel that we
  are surrounded by heroes and saints in our daily
  lives. My father worked 44 years in the shops,
  provided for his family, even in the hard times.
  When he died, I realized that he would have given
  up his life for me. Robert Cormier

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Titles by Cormier

• Now and at the Hour (1960)
• A Little Raw on Monday Mornings (1963)
• Take Me Where the Good Times Are (1965)
• The Chocolate War (1974)
• I am the Cheese (1977)
• After the First Death (1979)
• The Bumblebee Flies Anyway (1983)
• Beyond the Chocolate War (1985)
• Fade (1988)

• Other Bells for Us to Ring (1990)
• We All Fall Down (1991)
• I Have Words to Spend (1991)
• Tunes for Bears to Dance To (1992)
• In the Middle of the Night (1995)
• Tenderness (1997)
• Heroes (1998)
• Frenchtown Summer (1999)
• The Rag and Bone Shop (2001)

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Critics Thoughts

• "Again, the inimitable Cormier luridly explores
  the fouler corners of our spiritual attics." --
  Kirkus Reviews, Pointer (We all Fall Down)
• Imagine what might happen if Holden Caulfield
  stepped into H. G. Wells The Invisible Man, and
  youll have an idea how good Fade is. . . . I was
  absolutely riveted.Stephen King
• "The characterizations of all the boys are
  superb... This novel is unique in its
  uncompromising portrait of human cruelty and
  conformity."-School Library Journal, starred
  review (The Chocolate War)
• The Chocolate War initiated a new level of
  literary excellence in the fledgling genre of
  young adult fiction (Campbell, Farewell 245)

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Bibliography

• falcon.jmu.edu/ramseyil/cormier.htm
• www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writer.asp?zycid
  885746
• www.nndb.com/people/173/000065975/
• http//www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ts/feature/5191/
  104-7444629-9675133
• Campbell, Patty. A Loving Farewell to Robert
  Cormier, Horn Book Magazine Mar/Apr 2001, Vol.
  77 Issue 2, p. 245.
• Latrobe, Kathy Hutcherson, Trisha. An
  introduction to Ten Ourstanding Young-Adult
  Authors in the United States, World Literature
  Today Summer/Autumn 2002, Vol. 76, Iss 3/4, p.
  69.
• Sutton, Roger. Kind of a Funny Dichotomy,
  School Library Journal, June 1991, p. 28-33.

• www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/askauthor/Cormier.html
• www.classzone.com/novelguides/authors/cormier.cfm
  
• www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid
  5740
•  
• www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-cormier-robert.asp
•  
• www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/robert-cormier/
• www.achuka.co.uk/special/cormier01.htm
• www.webenglishteacher.com/cormier.html
• books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,393333,0
  0.html
• www.edupaperback.org/showauth.cfm?authid80