The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction

A native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, RV Cassill was a prolific writer, reviewer, editor, painter and teacher. He published over 20 novels and 60 short stories.

Recipient of a Rockefeller grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship, he taught creative writing at Iowa, Columbia, Harvard and Brown Universities.

Cassill’s prolific career writing and publishing, along with a wide array of interests beyond fiction, make it difficult to summarize the thematic nature and concerns of his work. His stories and novels concern bucolic life in the Midwest, the life of the artist or academic, and at times extend into autobiography. A preoccupation with the fates of couples, in alienation and union, is exhibited in much of his fiction, as is the warring of emotional and rational impulses in individuals and pairs. A strong visual identification is intrinsic in his prose, likely due to his training as a visual artist. His most famous novels were Doctor Cobb’s Game and Clem Anderson but the sheer breadth of his writing and his pervasive influence as a teacher have secured Cassill’s legacy in modern fiction.