more photos (1)

Richard Yates’s Followers (1,873)

Richard Yates

Born

in Yonkers, New York, The United States

February 03, 1926

Died

November 07, 1992

Genre

Fiction, Short Stories

Influences

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gustave Flaubert, Anton Chekhov ...more

edit data

Richard Yates shone bright upon the publication of his first novel, Revolutionary Road, which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. It drew unbridled praise and branded Yates an important, new writer. Kurt Vonnegut claimed that Revolutionary Road was The Great Gatsby of his time. William Styron described it as "A deft, ironic, beautiful novel that deserves to be a classic." Tennessee Williams went one further and said, "Here is more than fine writing; here is what, added to fine writing, makes a book come immediately, intensely, and brilliantly alive. If more is needed to make a masterpiece in modern American fiction, I am sure I don't know what it is."

In 1962 Eleven Kinds of Loneliness was published, his first collection of sh Richard Yates shone bright upon the publication of his first novel, Revolutionary Road, which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. It drew unbridled praise and branded Yates an important, new writer. Kurt Vonnegut claimed that Revolutionary Road was The Great Gatsby of his time. William Styron described it as "A deft, ironic, beautiful novel that deserves to be a classic." Tennessee Williams went one further and said, "Here is more than fine writing; here is what, added to fine writing, makes a book come immediately, intensely, and brilliantly alive. If more is needed to make a masterpiece in modern American fiction, I am sure I don't know what it is."

In 1962 Eleven Kinds of Loneliness was published, his first collection of short stories. It too had praise heaped upon it. Kurt Vonnegut said it was "the best short-story collection ever written by an American."

Yates' writing skills were further utilized when, upon returning from Los Angeles, he began working as a speechwriter for then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy until the assassination of JFK. From there he moved onto Iowa where, as a creative writing teacher, he would influence and inspire writers such as Andre Dubus and Dewitt Henry.

His third novel, Disturbing the Peace, was published in 1975. Perhaps his second most well-known novel, The Easter Parade, was published in 1976. The story follows the lives of the Grimes sisters and ends in typical Yatesian fashion, replicating the disappointed lives of Revolutionary Road.

However, Yates began to find himself as a writer cut adrift in a sea fast turning towards postmodernism; yet, he would stay true to realism. His heroes and influences remained the classics of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flaubert and short-story master, Chekov.

It was to his school and army days that Richard turned to for his next novel, A Good School, which was quickly followed by his second collection of short stories, Liars in Love. Young Hearts Crying emerged in 1984 followed two years later with Cold Spring Harbour, which would prove to be his final completed novel.

Like the fate of his hero, Flaubert, whose novel Madame Bovary influenced Revolutionary Road and The Easter Parade, Richard Yates' works are enjoying a posthumous renaissance, attracting newly devoted fans across the Atlantic and beyond. ...more

Combine Editions
Richard Yates’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 129,189 ratings · 11,279 reviews · 74 distinct works • Similar authors

	Revolutionary Road 3.92 avg rating — 88,997 ratings — published 1961 — 163 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Easter Parade 4.03 avg rating — 9,618 ratings — published 1976 — 79 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eleven Kinds of Loneliness 4.05 avg rating — 6,558 ratings — published 1962 — 70 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Collected Stories by Richard Yates, Richard Russo (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 4.35 avg rating — 2,757 ratings — published 2001 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Disturbing the Peace 3.82 avg rating — 2,802 ratings — published 1975 — 43 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cold Spring Harbor 3.71 avg rating — 2,817 ratings — published 1986 — 40 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Young Hearts Crying 3.91 avg rating — 2,230 ratings — published 1984 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Good School 3.65 avg rating — 2,170 ratings — published 1978 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Special Providence 3.89 avg rating — 1,281 ratings — published 1969 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Liars in Love 4.08 avg rating — 1,204 ratings — published 1981 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Richard Yates…

Quotes by Richard Yates (?)

“if you wanted to do something absolutely honest, something true, it always turned out to be a thing that had to be done alone.”
― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

tags: alone, honesty, yates

692 likes

“It's a disease. Nobody thinks or feels or cares any more; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable little God damn mediocrity.”
― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

tags: apathy, mediocrity

661 likes

“No one forgets the truth; they just get better at lying.”
― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

354 likes

See all Richard Yates's quotes »

Polls

Książka na wrzesień

Dom dzienny, dom nocny | Olga Tokarczuk

7 votes 43.8%

Neuromancer | William Gibson

3 votes 18.8%

Ta, którą nigdy nie byłam | Majgull Axelsson

2 votes 12.5%

Revolutionary Road | Richard Yates

2 votes 12.5%

Kochanica Francuza | John Fowles

1 vote 6.3%

Czarownice z Eastwick | John Updike

1 vote 6.3%

16 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
College Students! : Fall/Winter Challenge: Official Record of Points	44	739	Dec 15, 2009 01:25AM
The Life of a Boo...: What To Read in January!	163	443	Dec 20, 2009 05:38AM
The Book Challenge: Stephanie's 2009 Book Challenge - Finished (almost)	7	272	Jan 01, 2010 02:13AM
The Seasonal Read...: ABIGAIL'S TASK - ODD MAN OUT	353	249	Jan 13, 2010 01:04AM
The Seasonal Read...: YOUR TOP 10 OF 2009	42	306	Feb 17, 2010 11:16AM
The Seasonal Read...: Your Bottom 10 of 2009	48	301	Feb 28, 2010 10:54PM
Romance Readers R...: Read the Month Challenge: February	175	314	Mar 05, 2010 06:30AM
Romance Readers R...: 2010 February Monthly Challenge: Participants' Lists Thread	396	445	Mar 11, 2010 04:46AM

More…

Richard Yates’s Followers (1,873)

Richard Yates

Combine EditionsRichard Yates’s books

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Richard Yates’s books