Tony Tulathimutte (/tjuːlʌtɪmuːtiː/;[1][2] Thai: โทนี ตุลาธิมุตติ; born September 1, 1983) is an American writer known for his satirical fiction. His short story "Scenes from the Life of the Only Girl in Water Shield, Alaska" received an O. Henry Award in 2008.[3] In 2016, he published his debut novel Private Citizens. His 2024 collection Rejection was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction.[4]
Tony Tulathimutte | |
|---|---|
 Tulathimutte at the 2016 Texas Book Festival | |
| Born | September 1, 1983 Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Website | |
| tonytula | |
Early life
editTulathimutte grew up in Massachusetts, the son of immigrants from Thailand.[1] He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University and formerly worked as a writer and researcher in San Francisco on user experience topics.[5] Unhappy with his career, he decided to pursue his interest in writing, beginning work on Private Citizens.[1]
Career
editThough it struggled to find a publisher, Private Citizens, which follows four Stanford alumni after their graduation, was eventually acquired by William Morrow and Company, which paid Tulathimutte an advance of $20,000 and released it in 2016.[1] It received strong reviews; it was called "the first great millennial novel" by New York, and Jonathan Franzen cited it as one of his favorite novels of the decade.[1][6]
In 2019, Tulathimutte's short story "The Feminist" was published by the magazine n+1.[1] It drew significant feedback and controversy, becoming the most-read story on the magazine's website.[1] A satire written from the perspective of a man who is a self-described feminist ally, but whose lack of romantic success leads him to blame women for "fail[ing] feminism" and eventually turn to violence, it received criticism from some feminists and was embraced by some antifeminists.[1] Tulathimutte stressed that he did not share the views of its narrator, but after its publication, said that "in practice everyone projected their own politics onto it".[1]
In 2024, William Morrow published Rejection, a short story collection which includes "The Feminist".[1] Giles Harvey of The New York Times Magazine said it satirized "current liberal piety" and "corporatized identity politics".[1]
As of 2024[update], Tulathimutte is the lead instructor at CRIT, a creative writing workshop based in Brooklyn, New York.[1][7]
Personal life
editAs of 2024[update], Tulathimutte resides in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.[1]
Works
editNovel
edit- Private Citizens. William Morrow and Company. 2016. ISBN 978-0062399106.
Short story collection
edit- Rejection. William Morrow and Company. 2024. ISBN 978-0063337879.
Short stories
edit- "Composite Body" in The Cimarron Review
- "Inheritance" in The Threepenny Review
- Brains in The Malahat Review
- "The Man Who Wasn't Male" in Wag's Revue
- "Scenes from the Life of the Only Girl in Water Shield, Alaska" in The Threepenny Review
- "The Feminist" in n+1
- "Ahegao" in The Paris Review
Nonfiction
edit- Remote Research (2010), co-author with Nate Bolt
Awards
edit- Whiting Award in Fiction, 2017
- O. Henry Award, 2008
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harvey, Giles (September 15, 2024). "Main Character Energy". The New York Times Magazine. p. 40. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
- ^ "About / Contact". Tony Tulathimitte. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
TOO-lah-tim-OO-tee
- ^ The O. Henry Prize Stories 2008
- ^ "The 2024 National Book Awards Longlist". The New Yorker. September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ "Tony Tulathimutte Archive". User Experience Magazine. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ Tulathimutte, Tony (February 9, 2016). Private Citizens: A Novel. William Morrow Paperbacks. ISBN 9780062399106.
- ^ "The Instructor". CRIT. Retrieved January 21, 2022.