Pullitzer Prize-Winning Author Speaks at Russell Sage

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Written by Shannon Hunter, Senior Writer

Steven Millhauser, American author and 1997 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction, gave a reading at 7:30pm on Thursday, November 5^th in Bush Memorial. Millhauser’s most famous works are his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Martin Dressler, his critically acclaimed debut novel Edwin Mullhouse, and more recently, his short story “Eisenheim the Illusionist,” which was adapted into a film in 2006 starring Edward Norton. Millhauser was born in New York City and received his BA from Columbia University. He currently lives in Saratoga Springs, New York and is a professor at Skidmore College.

After being introduced by Dr. David Salomon, Director of the English and Modern Languages Department at Russell Sage, Millhauser began by telling the audience, “When you publish something, strange things can happen.”

To support this claim, he first told listeners about a letter he received a week after Martin Dressler was published. The letter was signed by a man named “Martin Dressler”, claiming that Millhauser’s novel was strangely similar to his life in addition to the identical names. Millhauser, shocked and surprised, immediately responded explaining how he came up with the specific name and the plot, and was glad to never here from the man again, though he joked that he lived for weeks, “in fear of a knock on the door” from the letter-writer.

His next example was a phone call he received from a man in response to his short story, “A Visit.” The man, who Millhauser vaguely knew, called and angrily asked if the short story was about his wife. This question quickly becomes comical when Millhauser reads the short story and the audience comes to find that the wife in the story is a slimy, “martian” frog.

After finishing “A Visit,” Millhauser prefaces his second reading by telling the audience he doesn’t know what to call it so he will call it a “thingamajig.” Its title is, “He Takes, She Takes,” and it discusses what happens when couples get divorced, and in Millhauser fashion, hilarity is added to the reading. The reading is composed of a back and forth of what he will take and what she will take, including the lines, “He takes the grandma, she takes the grandpa…He takes the draining board, she takes the dash board…He takes a chill pill, she takes a hike.” When Millhauser finished, a mixture of laughter and applause filled the room as he caught his breath from the quick-paced read.

Following the reading, all were welcomed to MOSS Bookstore for a book signing and meet and greet with Millhauser.