Robert Goolrick

Robert Goolrick (born 1948 in Virginia) is an American writer whose first novel sold more than five million copies..

Biography 
Robert Goolrick grew up in the 1950s in the small college town of Lexington, Virginia. His father was a college professor. His mother was a homemaker, and he had two siblings. When Goolrick lost his job as an advertising copywriter, he turned to memoir writing. He wrote a memoir and his parents disinherited him, so he moved to New York. The End of the World As We Know It: Scenes from a Life highlighted "the excesses and failures of both the social underpinnings of the time and his parents' inevitable alcohol-fueled decline, culminating in a devastating portrayal of the sexual abuse he suffered as a child." He sought "something resembling peace" in his writing. After years living in New York City, he returned to Virginia. In 2015 he moved from Whitestone, Virginia to Weems, Virginia. He reads from his book "A Reliable Wife" in a video posted for his Facebook followers to which he added, "For people who can't come to a bookstore, this is what I look like and what I sound like, thanks to my friend Ashraf Meer."

Works
2007: The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life, Algonquin Books, 
2009: A Reliable Wife, Algonquin Books, 
2012: Heading Out to Wonderful, Algonquin Books, 
2015: The Fall of Princes, Algonquin Books, 
2018: The Dying of the Light, Harper,

Works translated into French 
2009: Une femme simple et honnête, [« A Reliable Wife »], translation by  Marie de Prémonville, Paris, Éditions Anne Carrière, 413 p. 
2010: Féroces, [« The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life »], translated by Marie de Prémonville, , 254 p. .
2012: Arrive un vagabond, [« Heading Out to Wonderful »], translation by Marie de Prémonville, Éditions Anne Carrière, 319 p. 
- Prix Laurent-Bonelli Virgin-Lire 2012
- Grand prix des lectrices de Elle 2013.
2014: La Chute des princes [« The Fall of Princes »], translation by Marie de Prémonville, Éditions Anne Carrière, 360 p. .
2017: Après l’incendie, followed by the short story Trois lamentations, Éditions Anne Carrière, 300 p.

Book recommendations by Goolrick for children  
Robert Goolrick listed his six favorite books for children: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain;
Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss;
Canada by Richard Ford;
The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn;
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson; and
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.

Prizes 
2013: Grand prix des lectrices de Elle for Arrive un vagabond (Heading Out to Wonderful)
2015: Prix Fitzgerald for La Chute des princes

References

External links 
 Beautiful People, Wretched Childhood on The New York Times
 Robert Goolrick, author of the best-seller A Reliable Wife, talks about writing as the path to something resembling peace on Nashville scene
 Robert Goolrick on KirKus
 Goolrick's life spins from 'tortured' to 'Wonderful' on USA Today
 Robert Goolrick > Quotes on Goodreads
  'A Reliable Wife' by Robert Goolrick on {Washington Post (8 April 2009)
 Robert Goolrick on Book reporter
 The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life by Robert Goolrick on bookslut.com

Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:Grand prix des lectrices de Elle winners
Category:1948 births
Category:People from Virginia
Category:Living people