David James Duncan
{{short description|American novelist and essayist|bot=PearBOT 5}}
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1952}}
| birth_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S.
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| occupation = Novelist, essayist
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| alma_mater = Portland State University
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| notableworks = The River Why (1983)
The Brothers K (1992)
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David James Duncan (born 1952)[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tturb/00153/trb-00153.html David James Duncan: An Inventory of His Papers, (1959-2002)] at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University is an American novelist and essayist, best known for his two bestselling novels, The River Why (1983) and The Brothers K (1992). Both novels received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers award; The Brothers K was a New York Times Notable Book in 1992 and won a Best Books Award from the American Library Association. His third novel, Sun House, was released by Little, Brown and Company on August 8, 2023.https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/david-james-duncan/sun-house/9780316129374/
Film adaptation
In 2008, The River Why was adapted into a "low-budget film" of the same name{{IMDb title|qid=Q3794003|title=The River Why}} starring William Hurt and Amber Heard.[https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988389.html Ambush, Hurt jump into River Why] from a July 1, 2008 article from Variety magazine On April 30, 2008, the film rights to The River Why became the subject of a lawsuit by Duncan alleging copyright infringement, among other issues.[http://reporter.blogs.com/thresq/2008/05/posted-by-mat-3.html Hollywood Docket: River Why Author Claims Producers Infringed on Film Rights] from "The Hollywood Reporter, Esq." blog[http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/05/01/RiverWhy.pdf Duncan v. Cohen, Case No. 08-CV-2243] (USDC, N. Calif. filed April 30, 2008) from courthousenews.com The lawsuit has been settled and Duncan has said, "I engaged in a three-year legal battle against the producers of the film over their handling of my film rights. That battle was settled last fall. My name is off the film, Sierra Club's name is off the film, and the rights have returned to me. I tried to remove my title from their film, too, but the federal magistrate in San Francisco let them keep it".[http://www.1859oregonmagazine.com/1859-Magazine/Fall-2009/The-River-Why-039s-David-James-Duncan-on-water-salmon-and-the-policies-that-are-killing-them/ Interview: David James Duncan: Author of "The River Why" on water, salmon and the policies that are killing them] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707060307/http://www.1859oregonmagazine.com/1859-Magazine/Fall-2009/The-River-Why-039s-David-James-Duncan-on-water-salmon-and-the-policies-that-are-killing-them/ |date=2011-07-07 }} from 1859 Oregon's Magazine
Other works
Duncan has written a collection of short stories, River Teeth (1996), and a memoir of sorts, My Story As Told By Water (2001). God Laughs and Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right was published in 2001. An essay, "Bird Watching as a Blood Sport," appeared in Harper's Magazine in 1998; Duncan wrote the foreword to Thoreau on Water: Reflecting Heaven (2001). An essay, "A Mickey Mantle Koan: The Obstinate Grip of an Autographed Baseball," appeared in Harper's Magazine in 1992.
Personal life
Duncan was born in Portland, Oregon and lives in Lolo{{cite web |url=http://wweek.com/html/25-what.html |title=Willamette Week | 25th Anniversary Issue | Whatever Happened To...? |accessdate=2013-09-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223064536/http://wweek.com/html/25-what.html |archivedate=2010-12-23 }} in Missoula County, Montana. He has written op-ed pieces in support of preservation of Montana's Blackfoot River. His papers are held in the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World, part of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University.{{Cite web|title=Texas Archival Resources Online|url=https://txarchives.org/ttusw/finding_aids/60153.xml|access-date=2021-12-13|website=txarchives.org}}
References
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External links
- [http://davidjamesduncan.com David James Duncan] Official website
- [http://www.literature-map.com/david+james+duncan.html David James Duncan] from literature-map.com (JavaScript required)
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080922151701/http://www.powells.com/ink/duncan.html INK Q&A: Interview with David James Duncan] from the Powell's Books website
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Category:20th-century American novelists
Category:Writers from Portland, Oregon
Category:People from Missoula County, Montana
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:American male novelists
Category:American male essayists
Category:20th-century American essayists
Category:21st-century American essayists
Category:20th-century American male writers