Dexter Palmer

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Dexter Palmer is an American novelist and short-story writer. His novels are notable for bringing a literary, character-driven sensibility to genres like steampunk and speculative fiction, and to themes like time travel.

Biography[]

Palmer lives in Princeton, NJ. He attended Stetson University as an undergraduate.[1] He holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Princeton University.[2] In 2012, he participated in the Key West Literary Seminar: "Yet Another World: Literature of the Future".[3]

Writing[]

Palmer has published three books. His first novel, The Dream of Perpetual Motion (2010), was inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest. Writing in The New York Times, novelist Jeff Vandermeer called it "a singular riff on steampunk — sophisticated, subversive entertainment that never settles for escapism."[4] Fiction-writer Elizabeth Hand, reviewing The Dream of Perpetual Motion for The Washington Post, called it "an extravagantly wondrous and admirable first novel," noting a resemblance to the work of Angela Carter.[5]

Palmer's second book, Version Control, appeared in 2016 to wide acclaim. In a review for NPR, Jason Heller described the novel as "a thoughtful, powerful overhaul of the age-old time travel tale, one that doesn't radically deconstruct the genre so much as explore it more broadly and deeply."[6] The book received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews, where it was compared to the novels of Jonathan Franzen, though its speculative elements were also noted.[7] It was included on The Washington Post's list of "The Best Fantasy and Science Fiction of 2016;"[8] as well as "Best of 2016" lists by GQ[9] and Buzzfeed.[10]

Bibliography[]

  • The Dream of Perpetual Motion (2010)
  • Version Control (2016)
  • Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen (2019)

References[]

  1. ^ "1995 Stetson yearbook photo of Dexter Palmer". Stetson University. 1995. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  2. ^ "Dexter Palmer". Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  3. ^ "2012-Key West Literary Seminar". Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  4. ^ Vandermeer, Jeff. "Malevolent Design". New York Times.
  5. ^ Hand, Elizabeth. "Book review: Elizabeth Hand reviews 'The Dream of Perpetual Motion' by Dexter Palmer". The Washington Post.
  6. ^ Heller, Jason. "'Version Control' Is A Dizzying Elevation Of The Time-Travel Tale". NPR.
  7. ^ "Version Control". Kirkus.
  8. ^ Hightower, Nancy. "Best science fiction and fantasy of 2016". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ Nguyen, Kevin. "These Are the Best Books of 2016". GQ.
  10. ^ Fitzgerald, Isaac. "The 24 Best Fiction Books Of 2016". Buzzfeed.
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