Richard Yates
Richard Yates is one of the most influential American authors of the 20th century and is especially remembered for his powerful, yet painfully real portrayals of life in mid-twentieth century America. He was born into a middle-class family from Yonkers, New York and the struggles he endured during the hard times of the Great Depression greatly influenced the dark lyrical quality and subtle sarcasm evident in his writing. Yates is best known for his novels Revolutionary Road and A Good School, both of which remain popular today, and his short stories, poems, and essays are just as highly acclaimed.
Yates was part of the emerging group of authors in the 1950s and 1960s known as the "irony school," which included such notables as J.D. Salinger, Louise Bogan, and Irwin Shaw. His novels are mostly set during the same era, a world at once familiar, but melancholy and full of harshness. His characters often rely on memories of the past, day-dreams, and the occasional escape or coping mechanism to maintain some kind of inner peace, but the downward trend of their lives is unavoidable. Many of his protagonists feel they have been marginalized by society, left out of the American Dream, and/or letting their dreams slip away, as is witnessed in Revolutionary Road and A Good School.
Yates was an influential practitioner of the flashback technique, which he adeptly paired with an observant narrative voice to draw readers into his characters’ minds, often with little warning, leaving the reader to piece together their innermost thoughts. In Revolutionary Road, the main character Frank Wheeler takes a trip back in time down memory lane as he reminisces about his marriage to his wife, April, and the challenges of maintaining a quiet middle-class life. In A Good School, James LaRue embarks on a similar journey of reflection as he attempts to untangle his complicated past.
Like many of his generation of writers, Yates often depicted the lives of people thwarted by the standards imposed on them by society, as seen in Revolutionary Road, a heartbreaking glimpse into a couple attempting to overcome pressures of conformity. His characters are often dreamers who, just as often, experience disappointments. In Revolutionary Road, Frank and April's plans of running away to Europe to start a new life teeters between hopefulness and despair as the reality of their lives sets in. Yates’ short stories are similarly impactful, notably the classic “A Natural Girl” and “The Great Day," both of which were nominated for National Magazine Awards in 1961.
In addition to his novels and stories, Yates was well known for his teaching career and frequent lecture appearances at universities and literary conferences. He taught at the University of Iowa, Columbia University, Ohio State University, and the infamous Iowa Writers' Workshop. His influence as a professor extended beyond the classroom; Yates mentored a number of emerging authors, including Andre Dubus and Raymond Carver, a few of the many authors inspired by Yates’ literary vision.
Although out of print for nearly twenty years prior to 2005, driven by the publication of a Library of America volume, Yates’s works experienced a renewed surge of popularity. His works have been celebrated by readers and critics alike, with the New York Times once referring to him as the "Thomas Hardy of the 20th-century America." Since his death in 1992, several film adaptations of his works have been released, including Revolutionary Road (2008), directed by Sam Mendes, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
It is clear why Richards Yates’ works remain so popular to this day. He was a masterful storyteller with an unrivaled talent for capturing a sense of time and place, and his acute understanding of human nature and the values of daydreaming make his stories timeless. With his penchant for irony and his own unique charm, Yates demonstrated that the pain of loneliness can often be washed away, if ever so temporarily, with escapism. To this day, Richard Yates remains one of the most revered authors of the 20th century who—through his powerful yet subtle literature—has influenced countless other writers.
