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{{Short description|Polish-American writer (1933–1991)}} {{Redirect|Joseph Novak|the inventor of concept maps|Joseph D. Novak}} {{BLP sources|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Jerzy Kosiński | image = Jerzy Kosiński (by Eric Koch, 1969).jpg | caption = Kosiński in 1969 | birth_name = Józef Lewinkopf | birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1933|6|14}} | birth_place = [[Łódź]], Poland | death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1991|5|3|1933|6|14}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | education = [[University of Łódź]] | occupation = Novelist | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|[[Mary Hayward Weir]]|1962|1966|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Katherina "Kiki" von Fraunhofer|1968|}} }} | signature = Jerzy Kosinski signature.jpg }} '''Jerzy Kosiński''' ({{IPA|pl|ˈjɛʐɨ kɔˈɕij̃skʲi}}; born '''Józef Lewinkopf'''; 14 June 1933{{snd}}3 May 1991) was a Jewish-Polish-American writer and two-time president of the American chapter of [[P.E.N.]], who wrote primarily in English. Born in Poland, he [[Holocaust survivors|survived World War II there]], together with his family, with the help of their Polish villager neighbors; and, as a young man, he emigrated to the U.S., where he became a citizen. He was known for novels including ''[[Being There (novel)|Being There]]'' (1971)<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jerzy-kosinski/being-there/ |title=BEING THERE {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref> and the controversial ''[[The Painted Bird]]'' (1965), which were adapted as films, respectively, in [[Being There|1979]] and [[The Painted Bird (film)|2019]].<ref name=obitnyt>{{cite news |first=Alessandra |last=Stanley |title=Jerzy Kosiński, The Writer, 57, Is Found Dead. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/04/arts/jerzy-kosinski-the-writer-57-is-found-dead.html|newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 4, 1991 |access-date=April 5, 2008 |archive-date=January 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125040026/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/04/arts/jerzy-kosinski-the-writer-57-is-found-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref> == Life == Kosiński was born Józef Lewinkopf to Jewish parents in [[Łódź]], Poland, in 1933.<ref>Moshe Pelli: ''The Shadow of Death: Letters in Flames''. University Press of America, 2007.</ref> As a child during World War II, he lived in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied central Poland]] under a false identity, Jerzy Kosiński, which his father gave him. [[Eugeniusz Okoń]], a Catholic priest, issued him a forged baptismal certificate, and the Lewinkopf family survived the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] thanks to local villagers who offered [[Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust|assistance to Polish Jews]], at grave personal risk. Kosiński's father was assisted not only by town leaders and clergymen, but by individuals such as Marianna Pasiowa, a member of an underground network that helped Jews evade capture. The family lived openly in [[Dąbrowa Rzeczycka]], near [[Stalowa Wola]], and attended church in nearby [[Wola Rzeczycka]], with the support of villagers in [[Kępa Rzeczycka]]. For a time, they were sheltered by a Catholic family in [[Rzeczyca Okrągła]]. Jerzy even served as an [[altar boy]] in the local church.<ref>James Park Sloan. Jerzy Kosiński: A Biography (New York: Dutton/Penguin, 1996), pp.7–54.</ref> After the war, Kosiński's father aligned himself with Poland's communist regime, and the family was relatively well off.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=D. G. |date=1996-10-01 |title=A Life Beyond Repair |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/1996/10/003-a-life-beyond-repair |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=First Things |language=en |archive-date=May 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240504233537/https://www.firstthings.com/article/1996/10/003-a-life-beyond-repair |url-status=live }}</ref> Kosiński and his parents moved to [[Jelenia Góra]]. By age 22 he had earned degrees in history and sociology at the [[University of Łódź]].<ref name="Taylor"/> He then became a teaching assistant at the [[Polish Academy of Sciences]]. Kosiński also studied in the [[Soviet Union]], and served as a [[sharpshooter]] in the [[Polish Army]].<ref name="Taylor"/> A biographer writes that Kosinski disliked conformity and therefore the communism that his father had sworn allegiance to, and developed [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] views.<ref name=":0" /> In order to emigrate to the United States in 1957, he created a fake foundation which ostensibly sponsored him.<ref name=people1>{{cite news |first=Andrea |last=Chambers |title=Because He Writes from Life—his—sex and Violence Haunt Jerzy Kosiński's Fiction |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074595,00.html |work=People Weekly |access-date=June 28, 2008 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213543/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074595,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> He later said he had forged letters from prominent communist authorities guaranteeing his return to Poland, which were then required for anyone leaving the country.<ref name=people1 /> Kosiński first worked at odd jobs to get by, including driving a truck,<ref name=people1/> and he managed to graduate from Columbia University. In 1965 he became an American citizen. In 1967 he received a [[John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation|Guggenheim Foundation]] fellowship, and in 1968 a grant from the [[Ford Foundation]]. In 1970 he won an [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]] award for literature.<ref>{{cite news |title=In Novels and Life, a Maverick and an Eccentric |author=Mervyn Rothstein |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 4, 1991 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/04/obituaries/in-novels-and-life-a-maverick-and-an-eccentric.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |access-date=February 9, 2017 |archive-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420203726/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/04/obituaries/in-novels-and-life-a-maverick-and-an-eccentric.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |url-status=live }}</ref> The grants allowed him to write a political nonfiction book that opened new doors of opportunity.<ref name=people1/> He became a lecturer at Yale, Princeton, Davenport, and Wesleyan Universities. Kosiński practiced photographic art, with a 1957 one-man exhibition at Warsaw's Crooked Circle [''Krzywe Koło''] Gallery and a 1988 exhibition at New York's Andre Zarre Gallery. In 1962 Kosiński married an American steel heiress, [[Mary Hayward Weir]], eighteen years his senior; four years later they divorced. Weir died in 1968 from brain cancer, leaving Kosiński out of her will. He fictionalized the marriage in his novel ''Blind Date'', describing Weir under the name Mary-Jane Kirkland.<ref name=people1/> In 1968 he married Katherina "Kiki" von Fraunhofer (1933–2007), a marketing consultant and descendant of [[Bavaria]]n nobility.<ref name=people1/> === Death === Toward the end of his life Kosiński suffered from multiple illnesses, and questions arose regarding [[plagiarism]] in his work.<ref name=medscape/> By his late 50s he was suffering from an [[irregular heartbeat]].<ref name="Taylor">Taylor, John. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=VukCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24 The Haunted Bird: The Death and Life of Jerzy Kosinski] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528104403/http://books.google.com/books?id=VukCAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA24 |date=May 28, 2013 }}", ''New York'' Magazine, June 15, 1991.</ref> He died by suicide on 3 May 1991 by ingesting a [[combined drug intoxication|lethal amount]] of [[alcohol poisoning|alcohol]] and [[drug overdose|drugs]] and wrapping a plastic bag around his head, [[asphyxia|suffocating]] himself.<ref name=obitnyt/><ref name=Taylor/> His suicide note read: "I am going to put myself to sleep now for a bit longer than usual. Call it Eternity."<ref name=medscape>{{cite news|first=William |last=Breitbart |author2=Rosenfeld, Barry |title=Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Influence of Psychosocial Issues |url=http://www.moffitt.org/moffittapps/ccj/v6n2/article3.htm |quote=Jerzy Kosiński, the Polish novelist and Holocaust survivor, committed suicide in May 1991. Like other individuals suffering with chronic medical illnesses, he chose suicide as a means of controlling the course of his disease and the circumstances of his death. |publisher=Moffitt Cancer Center |access-date=February 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717210852/http://www.moffitt.org/moffittapps/ccj/v6n2/article3.htm |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }}</ref><ref>Article in ''[[Newsweek]]'', May 13, 1991.</ref> Per his wishes, Kosiński was cremated and [[Oscar de la Renta]] spread his ashes near his home in the Dominican Republic, off a small cove in Casa de Campo.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2014 |title=I Am Jerzy Kosinski |url=https://www.therupturemag.com/the-collagist/2014/2/2/i-am-jerzy-kosinski.html |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=The Rupture |language=en-US |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409233253/https://www.therupturemag.com/the-collagist/2014/2/2/i-am-jerzy-kosinski.html |url-status=live }}</ref> == Notable novels == Kosiński's novels have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, and have been translated into over 30 languages, with total sales estimated at 70 million in 1991.<ref name = "Greenwood">{{Cite web |url=http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/HJO%252f.aspx |title=Greenwood Press advertisement |access-date=June 19, 2007 |archive-date=July 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713143018/http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/HJO/.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> === ''The Painted Bird'' === ''[[The Painted Bird]]'', Kosiński's controversial 1965 novel, is a fictional account that depicts the personal experiences of a boy of unknown religious and ethnic background who wanders around unidentified areas of Eastern Europe during World War II and takes refuge among a series of people, many of whom are brutally cruel and abusive, either to him or to others. Soon after the book was published in the US, Kosiński was accused by the [[People's Republic of Poland|then-Communist]] Polish government of being [[Anti-Polish sentiment|anti-Polish]], especially following the regime's [[March 1968 events|1968 anti-Zionist campaign]].<ref name="NYT">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE7DA1039F931A15757C0A96F948260 "Poland Publishes 'The Painted Bird'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320214601/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/22/books/poland-publishes-the-painted-bird.html |date=March 20, 2022 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 22, 1989.</ref> The book was banned in Poland from its initial publication until the fall of the Communist government in 1989. When it was finally printed, thousands of Poles in Warsaw lined up for as long as eight hours to purchase copies of the work autographed by Kosiński.<ref name="NYT"/> Polish literary critic and University of Warsaw professor [[Paweł Dudziak]] remarked that "in spite of the unclear role of its author, ''The Painted Bird'' is an achievement in English literature." He stressed that, because the book is a work of fiction and does not document real-world events, accusations of anti-Polish sentiment may result only from taking it too literally.<ref name="culture.pl">Dudziak, Paweł. [https://archive.today/20130416081123/http://www.culture.pl/web/english/resources-film-full-page/-/eo_event_asset_publisher/eAN5/content/jerzy-kosinski JERZY KOSIŃSKI], 2003. Retrieved April 10, 2007. {{langx|pl|"Efektem kolektywnego tłumaczenia i niejasnej do końca roli samego "autora" w tworzeniu wersji ostatecznej, jest wyjątkowe pod względem językowym, wybitne dzieło literatury anglojęzycznej."}}</ref> The book received recommendations from [[Elie Wiesel]] who wrote in ''The New York Times Book Review'' that it was "one of the best ... Written with deep sincerity and sensitivity." [[Richard Kluger]], reviewing it for ''Harper's Magazine'' wrote: "Extraordinary ... literally staggering ... one of the most powerful books I have ever read." [[Jonathan Yardley]], reviewing it for ''The Miami Herald'', wrote: "Of all the remarkable fiction that emerged from World War II, nothing stands higher than Jerzy Kosiński's ''The Painted Bird''. A magnificent work of art, and a celebration of the individual will. No one who reads it will forget it; no one who reads it will be unmoved by it."<ref name = "Barnes&Noble">[http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&btob=&isbn=0-8021-3422-X#TABS From book promotional advertisement by Barnes & Noble]{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> === ''Steps'' === ''[[Steps (novel)|Steps]]'' (1968), a novel comprising scores of loosely connected vignettes, won the U.S. [[National Book Award for Fiction]].<ref name=nba1969/> American novelist [[David Foster Wallace]] described ''Steps'' as a "collection of unbelievably creepy little allegorical tableaux done in a terse elegant voice that's like nothing else anywhere ever". Wallace continued in praise: "Only [[Kafka]]'s fragments get anywhere close to where Kosiński goes in this book, which is better than everything else he ever did combined."<ref>{{cite news |last=Zacharek |first=Stephanie |url=http://www.salon.com/books/bag/1999/04/12/wallace/ |title=Overlooked |work=Salon |date=April 12, 1999 |access-date=March 19, 2010 |archive-date=July 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725190640/http://www.salon.com/books/bag/1999/04/12/wallace |url-status=live }}</ref> Samuel Coale, in a 1974 discussion of Kosiński's fiction, wrote that "the narrator of ''Steps'' for instance, seems to be nothing more than a disembodied voice howling in some surrealistic wilderness."<ref>Samuel Coale. The Quest for the Elusive Self: the Fiction of Jerzy Kosiński. ''Critique: Studies in Modern Fiction''. 14, (3), pp. 25–37. Quoted in: Harold Bloom. [https://books.google.com/books?id=CLhZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22a+disembodied+voice+howling+in+some+surrealistic+wilderness.%22 ''Twentieth-century American Literature.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401143539/https://books.google.com/books?id=CLhZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22a+disembodied+voice+howling+in+some+surrealistic+wilderness.%22 |date=April 1, 2023 }}. Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. {{ISBN|0-87754-804-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-87754-804-1}}</ref> === ''Being There'' === [[File:Jerzy Kosiński (by Rob Mieremet, 1973).jpg|thumb|Jerzy Kosiński (1973)]] One of Kosiński's more significant works is ''[[Being There (novel)|Being There]]'' (1971), a satirical view of the absurd reality of America's media culture. It is the story of Chance the gardener, a man with few distinctive qualities who emerges from nowhere and suddenly becomes the heir to the throne of a Wall Street tycoon and a presidential policy adviser. His simple and straightforward responses to popular concerns are praised as visionary despite the fact that no one actually understands what he is really saying. Many questions surround his mysterious origins, and filling in the blanks in his background proves impossible. The novel was made into a [[Being There|1979 movie]] directed by [[Hal Ashby]], and starring [[Peter Sellers]], who was nominated for an [[Academy Award]] for the role, and [[Melvyn Douglas]], who won the award for Best Supporting Actor. The screenplay was co-written by award-winning screenwriter [[Robert C. Jones]] and Kosiński. The film won the 1981 [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] (Film) Best Screenplay Award, as well as the 1980 [[Writers Guild of America Award]] (Screen) for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was nominated for the 1980 [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] Best Screenplay Award (Motion Picture).<ref name = "imdb">{{IMDb name|0467085|Jerzy Kosiński|section=awards}}</ref> == Criticism == According to [[Eliot Weinberger]], an American writer, essayist, editor and translator, Kosiński was not the author of ''The Painted Bird''. Weinberger alleged in his 2000 book ''Karmic Traces'' that Kosiński was not fluent in English at the time of its writing.<ref name = "Weinberger">Eliot Weinberger ''Genuine Fakes'' in his collection ''Karmic Traces''; New Directions, 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-8112-1456-8}}</ref> In a review of ''[[Jerzy Kosinski: A Biography|Jerzy Kosiński: A Biography]]'' by [[James Park Sloan]], D.G. Myers, associate professor of English at Texas A&M University wrote "For years Kosinski passed off ''The Painted Bird'' as the true story of his own experience during the Holocaust. Long before writing it he regaled friends and dinner parties with macabre tales of a childhood spent in hiding among the Polish peasantry. Among those who were fascinated was Dorothy de Santillana, a senior editor at [[Houghton Mifflin]], to whom Kosiński confided that he had a manuscript based on his experiences. Upon accepting the book for publication, Santillana said 'It is my understanding that, fictional as the material may sound, it is straight autobiography'. Although he backed away from this statement, Kosiński never wholly disavowed it."<ref name = "Myers">{{Cite web |url=http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9610/myers.html |title=D. G. Myers, ''Jerzy Kosinski: A Biography'' by James Park Sloan |access-date=November 12, 2006 |archive-date=October 24, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024025155/http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9610/myers.html |url-status=live }}</ref> M.A. Orthofer addressed Weinberger's assertion: "Kosinski was, in many respects, a fake – possibly near as genuine a one as Weinberger could want. (One aspect of the best fakes is the lingering doubt that, possibly, there is some authenticity behind them – as is the case with Kosinski.) Kosinski famously liked to pretend he was someone he wasn't (as do many of the characters in his books), he occasionally published under a pseudonym, and, apparently, he plagiarized and forged left and right."<ref name = "Orthofer">{{Cite web |url=http://www.complete-review.com/quarterly/vol2/issue1/ffakes.htm |title="Facts and Fakes" by M.A.Orthofer |access-date=February 14, 2007 |archive-date=October 18, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018235823/http://www.complete-review.com/quarterly/vol2/issue1/ffakes.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Kosiński addressed these claims in the introduction to the 1976 reissue of ''The Painted Bird'', saying that "Well-intentioned writers, critics, and readers sought facts to back up their claims that the novel was autobiographical. They wanted to cast me in the role of spokesman for my generation, especially for those who had survived the war; but for me, survival was an individual action that earned the survivor the right to speak only for himself. Facts about my life and my origins, I felt, should not be used to test the book's authenticity, any more than they should be used to encourage readers to read ''The Painted Bird''. Furthermore, I felt then, as I do now, that fiction and autobiography are very different modes."<ref>{{cite book|title=''The Painted Bird''|last=Kosinski|first=Jerry|pages=[https://archive.org/details/paintedbird00kosi_0/page/ xiii–xiv]|year=1976|publisher=Grove Press Books|isbn=0-8021-3422-X|no-pp=true|url=https://archive.org/details/paintedbird00kosi_0/page/}}</ref> === Plagiarism allegations === In June 1982, a ''Village Voice'' report by Geoffrey Stokes and Eliot Fremont-Smith alleged Kosiński wrote ''The Painted Bird'' in Polish, and had it secretly translated into English. The report said that Kosiński's books had been ghost-written by "assistant editors", finding [[stylistics (linguistics)|stylistic]] differences among Kosiński's novels. Kosiński, according to them, had depended upon his freelance editors for "the sort of composition that we usually call writing." American biographer [[James Park Sloan|James Sloan]] notes that New York poet, publisher and translator [[George Reavey]] said he had written ''The Painted Bird'' for Kosiński.<ref>[[George Reavey]] [http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9610/myers.html D. G. Myers, ''Jerzy Kosinski: A Biography'' by James Park Sloan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024025155/http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9610/myers.html |date=October 24, 2006 }}</ref> The article found a more realistic picture of Kosiński's life during the Holocaust – a view which was supported by biographers [[Joanna Siedlecka]] and Sloan. The article asserted that ''The Painted Bird,'' assumed to be semi-autobiographical, was largely a work of fiction. The information showed that rather than wandering the Polish countryside, as his fictional character did, Kosiński spent the war years [[Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust|in hiding with Polish Catholics]]. [[Terence Blacker]], an English publisher (who helped publish Kosiński's books) and author of children's books and mysteries for adults, wrote an article published in ''[[The Independent]]'' in 2002: <blockquote>The significant point about Jerzy Kosiński was that...his books...had a vision and a voice consistent with one another and with the man himself. The problem was perhaps that he was a successful, worldly author who played polo, moved in fashionable circles and even appeared as an actor in Warren Beatty's ''Reds''. He seemed to have had an adventurous and rather kinky sexuality which, to many, made him all the more suspect. All in all, he was a perfect candidate for the snarling pack of literary hangers-on to turn on. There is something about a storyteller becoming rich and having a reasonably full private life that has a powerful potential to irritate so that, when things go wrong, it causes a very special kind of joy.<ref name="Blacker"> [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020617/ai_n12627315 "Plagiarism? Let's just call it postmodernism" by Terence Blacker] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215101500/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020617/ai_n12627315 |date=15 December 2007 }}</ref></blockquote> Journalist John Corry wrote a 6,000-word feature article in ''The New York Times'' in November 1982, responding and defending Kosiński, which appeared on the front page of the Arts and Leisure section. Among other things, Corry alleged that reports that "Kosinski was a plagiarist in the pay of the [[C.I.A.]] were the product of a Polish Communist [[disinformation]] campaign."<ref name = "Corry(2)">{{cite news |last=Corry |first=John |date=November 7, 1982 |title=17 YEARS OF IDEOLOGICAL ATTACK ON A CULTURAL TARGET |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/07/books/17-years-of-ideological-attack-on-a-cultural-target.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 23, 2019 |archive-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604202318/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/07/books/17-years-of-ideological-attack-on-a-cultural-target.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In an essay published in ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' in 1999, Kosiński's sometime lover, Laurie Stieber, wrote that he incorporated passages from her letters into the revised and expanded 1981 edition of his 1973 novel ''The Devil Tree'', without asking her. "The allegations in the ''Voice''," wrote Stieber, "combined with what I knew to be true about the revised edition of ''The Devil Tree'', left me with a gnawing mistrust in all aspects of our relationship. I hadn’t wavered, however, from my opinion that he was an extraordinary intellectual and philosopher, a brilliant storyteller and, yes, writer. But ego, and the fear of having his credibility strip-searched by erudite Polish or Russian editors, were behind his insistence on writing in English rather than using translators. By borrowing too greedily, Jerzy inadvertently wrote the ''Village Voice'' article himself."<ref>{{cite magazine| website=New York| title=Her Private Devil| first=Laurie| last=Stieber| date=January 4, 1999| url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/1063/| accessdate=July 5, 2023| archive-date=July 5, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705201315/https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/1063/| url-status=live}}</ref> In 1988, Kosiński wrote ''The Hermit of 69th Street'', in which he sought to demonstrate the absurdity of investigating prior work by inserting footnotes for practically every term in the book.<ref name = "Komisar">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nytheatre-wire.com/lk01033t.htm#2 |title=New York Theatre Wire: "More Lies About Jerzy" by Lucy Komisar |access-date=November 12, 2006 |archive-date=November 17, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061117061211/http://www.nytheatre-wire.com/lk01033t.htm#2 |url-status=live }}</ref> "Ironically," wrote theatre critic Lucy Komisar, "possibly his only true book ... about a successful author who is shown to be a fraud."<ref name = "Komisar" /> Despite repudiation of the ''Village Voice'' allegations of plagiarism in detailed articles in ''The New York Times'', ''The Los Angeles Times'', and other publications, Kosiński remained tainted. "I think it contributed to his death," said [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], a friend and fellow Polish emigrant.<ref name="Taylor"/> ==Television, radio, film, and newspaper appearances== Kosiński appeared 12 times on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' during 1971–1973, and ''[[The Dick Cavett Show]]'' in 1974, was a guest on the talk radio show of [[Long John Nebel]], posed half-naked for a cover photograph by [[Annie Leibovitz]] for ''The New York Times Magazine'' in 1982, and presented the [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for screenwriting in 1982. He also played the role of [[Bolshevik]] revolutionary and [[Politburo]] member [[Grigory Zinoviev]] in [[Warren Beatty]]'s film ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]''. The ''Time'' magazine critic wrote: "As Reed's Soviet nemesis, novelist Jerzy Kosinski acquits himself nicely–a tundra of ice against Reed's all-American fire." ''Newsweek'' complimented Kosiński's "delightfully abrasive" performance. == Friendships == Kosiński was friends with [[Roman Polanski]], with whom he attended the [[National Film School in Łódź]], and said he narrowly missed being at Polanski and [[Sharon Tate]]'s house on the night Tate was murdered by [[Charles Manson]]'s followers in 1969, due to lost luggage. His novel ''Blind Date'' portrayed the Manson murders.<ref name=people1/> In 1984, Polanski denied Kosiński's story in his autobiography. Journalist John Taylor of ''New York Magazine'' believes Polanski was mistaken. "Although it was a single sentence in a 461-page book, reviewers focused on it. But the accusation was untrue: Jerzy and Kiki had been invited to stay with Tate the night of the Manson murders, and they missed being killed as well only because they stopped in New York en route from Paris because their luggage had been misdirected." The reason why Taylor believes this is that "a friend of Kosiński wrote a letter to the ''Times'', which was published in the ''Book Review'', describing the detailed plans he and Jerzy had made to meet that weekend at Polanski's house on Cielo Drive."<ref name="Taylor"/> The letter referenced was written by Clement Biddle Wood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wood |first1=Clement Biddle |title=Letter, 'Tate Did Expect Kosinski' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/15/books/l-tate-did-expect-kosinski-124051.html |access-date=July 7, 2019 |work=[[New York Times Book Review]] |date=April 15, 1984 |page=35 |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707172640/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/15/books/l-tate-did-expect-kosinski-124051.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Svetlana Alliluyeva]], who had a friendship with Kosiński, is introduced as a character in his novel ''Blind Date''. Kosiński wrote his novel ''[[Pinball (novel)|Pinball]]'' (1982) for his friend [[George Harrison]], having conceived of the idea for the book at least 10 years before writing it.<ref>Kosiński, Jerzy (1992). ''Passing By: Selected Essays, 1962–1991'' Grove Press, p.54 {{ISBN|0-8021-3423-8}}</ref> == Bibliography == *''The Future Is Ours, Comrade: Conversations with the Russians'' (1960), published under the pseudonym "Joseph Novak" *''No Third Path'' (1962), published under the pseudonym "Joseph Novak" *''[[The Painted Bird]]'' (1965, revised 1976) *''The Art of the Self: Essays à propos Steps'' (1968) *''[[Steps (novel)|Steps]]'' (1968) *''[[Being There (novel)|Being There]]'' (1971) *''[[By Jerzy Kosinski: Packaged Passion.]]'' (1973)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kosinski |first=Jerzy |date=1973 |title=By Jerzy Kosinski: Packaged Passion |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41207100 |journal=The American Scholar |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=193–204 |jstor=41207100 |issn=0003-0937}}</ref> *''[[The Devil Tree]]'' (1973, revised & expanded 1982) *''[[Cockpit (novel)|Cockpit]]'' (1975) *''Blind Date'' (1977) *''Passion Play'' (1979) *''[[Pinball (novel)|Pinball]]'' (1982) *''The Hermit of 69th Street'' (1988, revised 1991) *''Passing By: Selected Essays, 1962–1991'' (1992) *''Oral Pleasure: Kosinski as Storyteller'' (2012) ==Filmography== *''[[Being There]]'' (novel and screenplay, cameo in gala scene, 1979) *''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]'' (actor, 1981) – [[Grigory Zinoviev]] *''[[The Statue of Liberty (film)|The Statue of Liberty]]'' (1985) – Himself *''Łódź Ghetto'' (1989) – [[Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski]] (voice) *''[[A Fool and His Money (1989 film)|Religion, Inc.]]'' (actor, 1989) – Beggar (final film role) *''Nabarvené ptáče (film)'' (2019, orig. The Painted Bird) == Awards and honors == *1966 – ''[[Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger]]'' (essay category) for ''The Painted Bird''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Meilleur+livre+%C3%A9tranger|title=Meilleur livre étranger {{!}} Book awards {{!}} LibraryThing|website=www.librarything.com|access-date=February 2, 2017|archive-date=December 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225191804/http://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Meilleur+livre+%C3%A9tranger|url-status=live}}</ref> *1969 – [[National Book Award]] for ''Steps''.<ref name=nba1969>[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1969 "National Book Awards – 1969"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028064852/http://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1969/ |date=October 28, 2018 }}. [[National Book Foundation]]. Retrieved 2012-03-28. <br/>(with essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog)</ref> *1970 – Award in Literature, [[National Institute of Arts and Letters]] and [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]] *1973–75 – President of the American Chapter of P.E.N. Re-elected 1974, serving the maximum permitted two terms *1974 – B'rith Shalom Humanitarian Freedom Award *1977 – [[American Civil Liberties Union]] First Amendment Award *1979 – [[Writers Guild of America, East]] Best Screenplay Award for ''Being There'' (shared with screenwriter [[Robert C. Jones]]) *1980 – Polonia Media Perspectives Achievement Award *1981 – [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] (BAFTA) Best Screenplay of the Year Award for ''Being There'' *International House Harry Edmonds Life Achievement Award *Received PhD Honoris Causa in Hebrew Letters from [[Spertus College of Judaica]] *1988 – Received PhD Honoris Causa in Humane Letters from [[Albion College]], Michigan *1989 – Received PhD Honoris Causa in Humane Letters from [[State University of New York at Potsdam]] == Further reading == === Books === * Eliot Weinberger ''Genuine Fakes'' in his collection ''Karmic Traces''; New Directions, 2000, {{ISBN|0-8112-1456-7}}; {{ISBN|978-0-8112-1456-8}}. * Sepp L. Tiefenthaler, ''Jerzy Kosinski: Eine Einfuhrung in Sein Werk'', 1980, {{ISBN|3-416-01556-8}} * Norman Lavers, ''Jerzy Kosinski'', 1982, {{ISBN|0-8057-7352-5}} * Byron L. Sherwin, ''Jerzy Kosinski: Literary Alarm Clock'', 1982, {{ISBN|0-941542-00-9}} * Barbara Ozieblo Rajkowska, ''Protagonista De Jerzy Kosinski: Personaje unico'', 1986, {{ISBN|84-7496-122-X}} * Paul R. Lilly, Jr., ''Words in Search of Victims: The Achievement of Jerzy Kosinski'', Kent, Ohio, Kent State University Press, 1988, {{ISBN|0-87338-366-4}} * Welch D. Everman, ''Jerzy Kosinski: the Literature of Violation'', Borgo Press, 1991, {{ISBN|0-89370-276-5}}. * Tom Teicholz, ed. ''Conversations with Jerzy Kosinski'', Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1993, {{ISBN|0-87805-625-4}} * Joanna Siedlecka, ''Czarny ptasior'' (The Black Bird), CIS, 1994, {{ISBN|83-85458-04-2}} * Joanna Siedlecka, ''The Ugly Black Bird'', Leopolis Press, 2018 {{ISBN | 978-1-7335238-0-6}} * James Park Sloan, ''Jerzy Kosinski: a Biography'', Diane Pub. Co., 1996, {{ISBN|0-7881-5325-0}}. * Agnieszka Salska, Marek Jedlinski, ''Jerzy Kosinski : Man and Work at the Crossroads of Cultures'', 1997, {{ISBN|83-7171-087-9}} * Barbara Tepa Lupack, ed. ''Critical Essays on Jerzy Kosinski'', New York: G.K. Hall, 1998, {{ISBN|0-7838-0073-8}} * Barbara Tepa Lupack, ''Being There in the Age of Trump'', Lexington Books, 2020, {{ISBN|1793607184}} === Articles === *Oleg Ivsky, Review of ''The Painted Bird'' in ''[[Library Journal]]'', Vol. 90, October 1, 1965, p. 4109 *[[Irving Howe]], Review of ''The Painted Bird'' in ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', October 1965 *Andrew Feld, Review in ''Book Week'', October 17, 1965, p. 2 *Anne Halley, Review of ''The Painted Bird'' in ''Nation'', Vol. 201, November 29, 1965, p. 424 *D.A.N. Jones, Review of ''Steps'' in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', Volume 12, Number 4, February 27, 1969 *[[Irving Howe]], Review of ''Being There'' in ''Harper's Magazine'', July 1971, p. 89. *David H. Richter, The Three Denouements of Jerzy Kosinski's "The Painted Bird", ''Contemporary Literature'', Vol. 15, No. 3, Summer 1974, pp. 370–85 *[[Gail Sheehy]], "The Psychological Novelist as Portable Man", ''[[Psychology Today]]'', December 11, 1977, pp. 126–30 *Margaret Kupcinskas Keshawarz, "Simas Kidirka: A Literary Symbol of Democratic Individualism in Jerzy Kosinski's Cockpit", ''Lituanus'' (Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences), Vol. 25, No.4, Winter 1979 *Roger Copeland, "An Interview with Jerzy Kosinski", ''New York Art Journal'', Vol. 21, pp. 10–12, 1980 *Robert E. Ziegler, "Identity and Anonymity in the Novels of Jerzy Kosinski", ''Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature'', Vol. 35, No. 2, 1981, pp. 99–109 *[[Barbara Gelb]], "Being Jerzy Kosinski", ''New York Times Magazine'', February 21, 1982, pp. 42–46 *[[Stephen Schiff]], "The Kosinski Conundrum", ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]],'' June 1988, pp 114–19 *Thomas S. Gladsky, "Jerzy Kosinski's East European Self", ''Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction'', Vol. XXIX, No. 2, Winter 1988, pp. 121–32 *Michael Schumacher, "Jerzy Kosinski", ''Writer's Yearbook'', 1990, Vol. 60, pp. 82–87. *John Corry, "The Most Considerate of Men", ''[[American Spectator]]'', Vol. 24, No. 7, July 1991, pp. 17–18 *Phillip Routh, "The Rise and Fall of Jerzy Kosinski", ''Arts & Opinion'', Vol. 6, No. 6, 2007. *Timothy Neale, "'... the credentials that would rescue me': Trauma and the Fraudulent Survivor", ''Holocaust & Genocide Studies'', Vol. 24, No. 3, 2010. === Biographical accounts === He is the subject of the off-Broadway play ''[[More Lies About Jerzy]]'' (2001), written by [[Davey Holmes]] and originally starring [[Jared Harris]] as Kosinski-inspired character "Jerzy Lesnewski". The most recent production being produced at the [[New End Theatre]] in London starring [[George Layton]]. He also appears as one of the 'literary golems' (ghosts) in [[Thane Rosenbaum]]'s novel ''The Golems of Gotham''. One of the songs of the Polish band NeLL, entitled "Frisco Lights", was inspired by Kosinski.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LadQEBmWbjM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/LadQEBmWbjM| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|title=NeLL - Frisco Lights|website=www.youtube.com| date=November 10, 2011|access-date=September 16, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archiwum.chorzowianin.pl/juz-jest-nell-wydal-nowa-plyte,n-2261.html|title=Już jest! NeLL wydał nową płytę! [PL]|website=www.archiwum.chorzowianin.pl|access-date=September 16, 2021|archive-date=September 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915231530/http://www.archiwum.chorzowianin.pl/juz-jest-nell-wydal-nowa-plyte,n-2261.html|url-status=live}}</ref> == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == * {{IMDb name|0467085}} * [http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.kosinski Katherina von Fraunhofer-Kosinski Collection of Jerzy Kosinski]. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. * [http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/BALLAST/jk.html Designing for Jerzy Kosinski] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019113640/http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/BALLAST/JK.html |date=October 19, 2009 }} * [http://culture.pl/en/artist/jerzy-kosinski Jerzy Kosiński] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720100257/http://culture.pl/en/artist/jerzy-kosinski |date=July 20, 2014 }} at Culture.pl *{{cite interview |interviewer=George Plimpton and Rocco Landesman |title=Jerzy Kosinski, The Art of Fiction No. 46 |url=http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4036/the-art-of-fiction-no-46-jerzy-kosinski |date=Summer 1972 |periodical=[[The Paris Review]] |issue=54 |access-date=November 6, 2010 |archive-date=August 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815222642/http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4036/the-art-of-fiction-no-46-jerzy-kosinski |url-status=live }} {{Navboxes | title = Awards for Jerzy Kosiński | list = {{BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay}} {{NBA for Fiction 1950–1974}} {{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}} }} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosinski, Jerzy}} [[Category:1933 births]] [[Category:1991 suicides]] [[Category:1991 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Łódź]] [[Category:People from Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939)]] [[Category:20th-century Polish Jews]] [[Category:Polish emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:20th-century American novelists]] [[Category:20th-century Polish novelists]] [[Category:American male novelists]] [[Category:Exophonic writers]] [[Category:Jewish American novelists]] [[Category:Polish male novelists]] [[Category:Polish satirists]] [[Category:Polish satirical novelists]] [[Category:Postmodern writers]] [[Category:Writers from New York City]] [[Category:Novelists from Connecticut]] [[Category:Novelists from New York (state)]] [[Category:University of Łódź alumni]] [[Category:Columbia University alumni]] [[Category:Wesleyan University faculty]] [[Category:National Book Award winners]] [[Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners]] [[Category:Drug-related suicides in New York City]] [[Category:Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners]] [[Category:Suicides in New York City]] [[Category:Drug-related deaths in New York City]] [[Category:20th-century American male writers]] [[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]] [[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
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