223:, and then ended his career as a writer of lengthy histories. His historical novels are distinctive for covering many disparate periods and historical figures and were popular with a coterie of critics but they never reached a wide audience. His novels usually focus on a couple of characters who are often highly private, unusual, even perverse individuals, so that his novels are more about encompassing the range of their personalities and motives through introspection rather than through narrative and plot. Stacton frequently refers to life as a "Cosmic Opera House".
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234:
Stacton's novels are often low in dialogue, and sometimes full of his witty scornful comments on his characters and life. Stacton had an epigrammatic style and enjoyed a sophisticated irony, although antipathetic critics took him to task for pretentious vocabulary, a tendency to florid paradoxes, and
265:
Besides the novels and other literary works published under his name, he published a wide range of pseudonymous novels of the Cowboy, Thriller and
Exploitation genres. His pulp novels about juvenile delinquents written under pseudonyms proved very popular, were translated into numerous languages and
190:
Stacton may have lied about being married, and recollections by friends and people who personally met him strongly indicate that he was gay and unafraid of being flamboyant in person. One memoir records
Stacton's penchant for drag. The few author descriptions in contemporary reviews were much taken
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in 1945. He legally changed his name to David Derek
Stacton on September 3, 1946. He changed his name to disassociate himself from his father, and because he believed the surname was unique to him in the United States (as a child he had been known to friends as "Lyonel"). He attended San Francisco
227:"American" triptych is highly critical of the development of American history and of America's tendencies to both imperialism and isolationism. And in his third triptych, Stacton examines, with considerable irony, the eternally fraught relationship between archetypal Man and Woman, beginning with
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He wrote three series of thematically related triptychs. In his first triptych, "The
Invincible Questions", Stacton chooses protagonists who are more important for their personal inquiries into the nature of reality than anything that they do, despite being a pharaoh, a king, and monk. His second
175:
in
January 1951. He lived in Europe from 1951 to 1954, 1960–1962, and 1964–1965. Most of his books as David Stacton were originally published in England. Stacton wrote under the pseudonyms Carse Boyd, Bud Clifton, David Dereksen and David West. He also
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praised his work as "masses of epigrams marinated in a stinging mixture of metaphysics and blood" and suggested that "something similar might have been the result if the Duc de la
Rochefoucauld had written novels with plots suggested by
215:, which were published in American little magazines. They were collected in 1953. David Stacton began his career as a novelist as a writer of moody California-based novels, became moderately well known as a writer of short, concentrated
286:
and populated it with an assortment of flamboyant party boys and hustlers. The reaction of the real life figures identifiable in the novel was one reason he left the San
Francisco area, more or less permanently, in 1959.
677:(University of California, 1968) - 4 page check-list of Stacton's writings compiled by Stacton's agent for a memorial exhibition at the Bancroft Library, University of California in November 1968
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282:, which features in many histories of gay pulp fiction, was inspired by an actual crime ring based in San Francisco, but Clifton transplanted the action to
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for his witty attention to history. Several of
Stacton's novels feature homosexual characters prominently when this was uncommon.
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231:, then looking comically at a famous period romance, and concluding with sad events at a film festival in the recent past.
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654:"Notes Written in the Self with a Singular Distaste for Writing Anything Down", Transatlantic Review, Spring 1968
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Stacton was born in San
Francisco. In author profiles, however, he claimed to have been born April 25, 1925, in
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Writers revisited: David
Stacton and the judges of the secret court by Crawford Killian
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anachronistic allusions (i.e. describing a 14th-century Zen garden using phrases from
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David Stacton's earliest published works were poems, often betraying the influence of
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195:. In 1965-1966 he taught at Washington and Lee College. He died January 19, 1968, in
258:, for his choice of characters with frustrated artistic and emotional longings, and
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The World on the Last Day: The Sack of Constantinople by the Turks, May 29, 1453
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648:"An Old Man Crosses The Border", Southwest Review, Vol. 51, No. 1, Winter 1966.
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629:"The Dinner at Vidocq" New Directions In Prose And Poetry" #13, 1951
522:(Faber, 1960) - novel based on John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi"
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Writers revisited: David Stacton and the judges of the secret court
311:(Stacton was the inspiration for the character Fellowes Kraft in
199:. His death was reported as being from a stroke. Stacton had had
651:"Little Brother Nun", The Virginia Quarterly Review, Spring 1967
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544:'s assassination of President Lincoln; - American Triptych II
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A Signal Victory: A Story of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan
626:"Trip to the Wedding", Decade of Short Stories, Spring 1951
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A Ride on a Tiger: The Curious Travels of Victor Jacquemont
154:(several of his books are set in Nevada). Stacton attended
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The Crescent and the Cross: The fall of Byzantium May 1453
130:, May 27, 1923 – January 19, 1968) was an American
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State College from 1947 to 1948, and graduated from the
504:(Faber, 1958) - The Invincible Questions Triptych III
632:"The Cruel Self" ADAM International Review 1952/1954
617:"The March of the Gnomes" Prairie Schooner #23, 1949
498:(Faber, 1958) - The Invincible Questions Triptych II
638:"The Metamorphosis of Kenko", Contact, October 1962
461:(Faber, 1957) - The Invincible Questions Triptych I
51:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
414:(G.P. Putnam, 1964) (under name of David Dereksen)
467:(Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1958) as Bud Clifton
528:(Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1960) as David West
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623:"Where It Was Sunny", Prairie Schooner, 1950
395:(The Conspiratorial Impermanent Press, 1984)
298:has republished seven of Stacton's novels. (
584:(Faber and Putnam, 1963) - novel based on
620:"A Dog Named Ego" Arizona Quarterly, 1950
254:". His other literary influences include
111:Learn how and when to remove this message
377:(Albert Sperisen, 1961) - broadside poem
371:(Albert Sperisen, 1960) – broadside poem
714:
556:(Faber, 1962) - based on the career of
389:(Limited Editions Unincorporated, 1977)
270:was one of Ace's top sellers for 1958.
817:Members of the Civilian Public Service
578:(Faber, 1962) - The Sexes Triptych III
369:A Desert Fox, With Cactus-Colored fur
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598:(Faber, 1965) - The Sexes Triptych I
596:Kaliyuga: or a Quarrel with the Gods
158:from 1941 to 1943. He served in the
49:adding citations to reliable sources
602:People of the Book: A Novel of the
534:(Faber, 1960) - American Triptych I
842:American writers with disabilities
827:20th-century American male writers
703:University of California, Berkeley
173:University of California, Berkeley
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670:(London) Times, February 21, 1968
667:Washington Post, January 25, 1965
635:"Florimond", Magpie, October 1952
516:(Transworld, 1960) as Bud Clifton
502:Segaki: A Story of Medieval Japan
445:(Faber, 1955) - a California noir
812:American conscientious objectors
664:New York Times, January 24, 1968
582:Sir William: or a Lesson in Love
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802:20th-century American novelists
684:, Hollins Critic, December 2002
572:(John Long, 1962) as Carse Boyd
566:(Doubleday, 1962) as Carse Boyd
383:(New Broom Private Press, 1976)
363:An Unfamiliar Country: 25 Poems
345:National Endowment for the Arts
36:needs additional citations for
723:"The Sustaining Stream - TIME"
538:The Judges of the Secret Court
485:(Pyramid, 1958) as Bud Clifton
307:Fans of David Stacton include
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675:David Derek Stacton 1923-1968
643:The Virginia Quarterly Review
181:Living Religions Of The World
426:(Simon & Schuster, 1966)
347:Literature Fellowship - 1968
128:Arthur Lionel Kingsley Evans
752:Crowley, John (June 2007).
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832:Stanford University alumni
822:People from Minden, Nevada
550:(Ace, 1961) as Bud Clifton
510:(Ace, 1959) as Bud Clifton
479:(Ace, 1958) as Bud Clifton
473:(Ace, 1958) as Bud Clifton
183:a 1956 work accredited to
641:"A Visit to the Master",
560:; - American Triptych III
540:(Faber, 1961) - based on
489:On a Balcony: A Story of
301:Times Literary Supplement
697:David Stacton Papers at
659:Obituaries and overviews
455:Remember Me: A Story of
807:American male novelists
592:; The Sexes Triptych II
160:Civilian Public Service
164:conscientious objector
508:The Murder Specialist
365:(Fantasy Press, 1953)
339:Guggenheim Fellowship
278:, was set in Nevada.
60:"David Derek Stacton"
837:People with epilepsy
733:on December 22, 2008
699:The Bancroft Library
520:A Dancer in Darkness
408:(Museum Press, 1954)
197:Fredensborg, Denmark
185:Frederic Spiegelberg
45:improve this article
471:D is for Delinquent
400:Biography / History
221:biographical novels
156:Stanford University
124:David Derek Stacton
692:Research resources
449:The Self-Enchanted
393:If Light in August
304:, April 5, 2013).
191:by his wearing of
680:"David Stacton",
570:Ride the Man Down
542:John Wilkes Booth
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729:. Archived from
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604:Thirty Years War
576:Old Acquaintance
375:Aetatis Suae LII
268:D for Delinquent
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56:Find sources:
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34:This article
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757:. Retrieved
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327:Peter Beagle
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256:Walter Pater
245:). In 1963,
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43:Please help
38:verification
35:
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797:1968 deaths
792:1923 births
737:January 14,
590:Lord Nelson
321:sequence),
296:Faber Finds
291:Rediscovery
252:Jack London
786:Categories
709:References
477:Muscle Boy
459:of Bavaria
387:Five Poems
381:Closing In
280:Muscle Boy
274:, about a
229:Hindu myth
217:historical
213:T.S. Eliot
71:newspapers
759:April 22,
754:"Comment"
514:Road Kids
495:Nefertiti
457:Ludwig II
242:Peter Pan
146:Biography
136:historian
554:Tom Fool
491:Akhnaton
207:Overview
201:epilepsy
168:Politics
132:novelist
101:May 2010
564:Navarro
437:Dolores
313:Crowley
178:ghosted
85:scholar
431:Novels
357:Poetry
333:Awards
325:, and
126:(born
87:
80:
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318:Ægypt
162:as a
92:JSTOR
78:books
761:2012
739:2022
493:and
239:and
219:and
140:poet
138:and
64:news
315:'s
47:by
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108:(
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