Locklin, Gerald

(US, 1941– )

Born at Rochester in New York, Locklin moved to the West Coast during the mid-1960s, becoming Professor of English at Long Beach. His stories and novellas mix social satire with literary joking, autobiography with fabulatory elements; they are usually Bacchanalian, politically incorrect, and often really funny. The Case of the Missing Blue Volkswagen (1984) is a spoof detective fiction crossing Hammett with Brautigan, an exercise in surreal story-telling. The Gold Rush (1989) has stories that highlight the zanyness of West Coast life, though ‘The English Girl’ reflects upon cultural and emotional differences between Britain and America. Jimmy Abbey, a libidinous college teacher, features as the protagonist of many Locklin fictions, notably The First Time He Saw Paris (1997) and Down and Out (1999). The latter is a full-length novel set in the London of the early 1970s and is full of comically absurd details.

Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan  JS