The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

Walker Percy

1916-1990

Walker Percy, born into a wealthy family in Birmingham, Alabama, faced personal tragedies early in life, including his father's suicide and the death of his mother in a car accident. He found refuge with his cousin, William Alexander Percy, an author, who became his guardian along with his two younger brothers. Despite initially pursuing medicine, Percy's battle with tuberculosis led him to explore his interests in literature, philosophy, and Roman Catholicism. Settling in Covington, Louisiana, he wrote essays on philosophy and semiotics, but it was his third novel, The Moviegoer, set in New Orleans, that garnered critical acclaim and won the National Book Award in 1961. Percy continued to write and publish novels and nonfiction, receiving accolades such as the Jefferson Lecture at the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1989. His contributions earned him membership in esteemed institutions like the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

Alabama Authors of the 19th & 20th Centuries, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, http://AlabamaAuthors.org

1961

The Moviegoer. New York; Knopf, 1961.

AL Book Collection

Percy, Walker, “The Moviegoer by Walker Percy,” Alabama Authors of the 19th & 20th Centuries, accessed October 5, 2024, https://alabamaauthors.org/items/show/8719.