Marquand, J P

Marquand, J P

▪ American novelist
born Nov. 10, 1893, Wilmington, Del., U.S.
died July 16, 1960, Newburyport, Mass.

      U.S. novelist who recorded the shifting patterns of middle and upper class U.S. society in the mid-20th century.

      Marquand grew up in New York City and suburban Rye in comfortable circumstances until his father's business failure, when he was sent to live with relatives in Newburyport. This experience of reduced status and security—sharpened by attending Harvard on a scholarship obtained by agreeing to study a subject he despised (chemistry)—made him acutely conscious of social gradations and their psychological corollaries.

      After about 15 years devoted to writing popular fiction, including the widely read adventures of the Japanese intelligence agent Mr. Moto, Marquand wrote his three most characteristic novels, satirical but sympathetic studies of a crumbling New England gentility: The Late George Apley (1937), Wickford Point (1939), and H.M. Pulham, Esquire (1941), in which a conforming Bostonian renounces romantic love for duty. He wrote three novels dealing with the dislocations of wartime America—So Little Time (1943), Repent in Haste (1945), and B.F.'s Daughter (1946)—but in these his social perceptions were somewhat less keen. He came back to his most able level of writing in his next novel, Point of No Return (1949), a painstakingly accurate social study of a New England town much like Newburyport. Two social types particularly important in the 1950s were depicted in Melville Goodwin, U.S.A. (1951), about a professional soldier, and Sincerely, Willis Wayde (1955), a sharply satiric portrait of a big business promoter. His last important novel, Women and Thomas Harrow (1958), is about a successful playwright and is partly autobiographical.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Marquand — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Allan Marquand (1853–1924), US amerikanischer Logiker Christian Marquand (1927–2000), französischer Schauspieler und Filmregisseur Henry Gurdon Marquand (1819–1902), US amerikanischer Philanthrop und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Marquand — Marquand, MO U.S. city in Missouri Population (2000): 251 Housing Units (2000): 124 Land area (2000): 0.242361 sq. miles (0.627712 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.242361 sq. miles (0.627712 sq …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Marquand, MO — U.S. city in Missouri Population (2000): 251 Housing Units (2000): 124 Land area (2000): 0.242361 sq. miles (0.627712 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.242361 sq. miles (0.627712 sq. km) FIPS… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Marquand —   [ mɑːkwənd], J. P. (John Phillips), amerikanischer Schriftsteller, * Wilmington (Delaware) 10. 11. 1893, ✝ Newburyport (Massachusetts) 16. 7. 1960; schrieb populäre Unterhaltungsliteratur und Detektivromane; bekannt v. a. durch ironisch… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Marquand — [mär′kwänd΄, märkwənd] J(ohn) P(hillips) 1893 1960; U.S. novelist …   English World dictionary

  • Marquand — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Richard Marquand (1938 1987) cinéaste britannique Serge Marquand (1930 2004) acteur français Christian Marquand (1927 2000) acteur français Nadine… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Marquand — Recorded as Le Marquand, Le Marchant, Marchant, Marchent, Marchand, Marquand, Merchant and others, this is a surname of French origins but much recorded in the British Isles and the Channel Islands. It derives from the word marquand meaning a… …   Surnames reference

  • Marquand — noun United States writer who created the Japanese detective Mr. Moto and wrote other novels as well (1893 1960) • Syn: ↑John Marquand, ↑John Philip Marquand • Instance Hypernyms: ↑writer, ↑author …   Useful english dictionary

  • Marquand, Missouri —   City   Location of Marq …   Wikipedia

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