Paul Beatty

Paul Beatty (born 1962 in Los Angeles) is a contemporary African-American author. Beatty received an MFA in creative writing from Brooklyn College and an MA in psychology from Boston University. He has a son, Payden, and two daughters, Darby and Macy.

In 1990, Paul Beatty was crowned the first ever Grand Poetry Slam Champion of the Nuyorican Poets CafeAptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008) "Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam." Soft Skull Press. Page 45. ISBN 1-933-36882-9.] . One of the prizes for winning that championship title was the book deal which resulted in his first volume of poetry, "Big Bank Takes Little Bank" Aptowicz, Page 46.] . This would be followed by another book of poetry "Joker, Joker, Duece" as well as appearances performing his poetry on MTV and PBS (in the series "The United States of Poetry")Aptowicz, Page 80.] .

His first novel, "The White Boy Shuffle" received a positive review in the New York Times. The reviewer, Richard Bernstein, called the book "a blast of satirical heat from the talented heart of black American life." [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E1DB1E39F932A05756C0A960958260 "Black Poet's First Novel Aims the Jokes Both Ways", "New York Times"] 31 May, 1996.] His second book, "Tuff" received a positive notice in Time Magazine. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996793,00.html "Tuff", "Time Magazine"] 1 May, 2000.] Most recently, Beatty edited an anthology of African-American humor called "Hokum" and written an article in the New York Times on the same subject. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/books/review/22beatty.html "Black Humor", "New York Times"] 22 January, 2006.]

Novels

* "The White Boy Shuffle" (1996) ISBN 0-312-28019-X
* "Tuff" (2001) ISBN 0-385-72111-0
* "Slumberland" (2008)

Edited volume

* "Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor" (2006)

Poetry

* "Big Bank Take Little Bank" (1991) ISBN 0-9627842-7-3
* "Joker, Joker, Deuce" (1994) ISBN 0-14-058723-3

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/books/review/22beatty.html Article in NY Times by Paul Beatty]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E1DB1E39F932A05756C0A960958260 NY TImes review of Paul Beatty's first novel, The White Boy Shuffle]
* [http://authors.aalbc.com/paulbeatty.htm African American Literature Book Club for Paul Beatty]
* [http://www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm?book_number=2148 Excerpt from Slumberland at BookBrowse]