# Benjamin Kunkel

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Kunkel
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Kunkel.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Kunkel
> Source revision: 1319087686
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

American writer

Benjamin Kunkel Born (1972-12-14) December 14, 1972 (age 53) Glenwood Springs, Colorado, U.S. Occupation Novelist editor political economist Education Deep Springs College Harvard University (BA) Columbia University (MFA)

**Benjamin Kunkel** (born December 14, 1972) is an American novelist and [political economist](/source/Political_economist).[1]

He co-founded and is a co-editor of the journal *[n+1](/source/N%2B1).*

His novel *Indecision* was published in 2005; and *Utopia or Bust: A Guide to the Present Crisis*, and *Buzz: A Play & My Predicament: A Story*, were published in 2014.[2][3]

## Background and education

Benjamin Kunkel was born in [Glenwood Springs, Colorado](/source/Glenwood_Springs%2C_Colorado), and grew up raised by hippie parents in [Eagle, Colorado](/source/Eagle%2C_Colorado), formerly a cow town and now a town for commuters to [Vail, Colorado](/source/Vail%2C_Colorado).[4][1][5] He was educated at [St. Paul's School](/source/St._Paul's_School_(Concord%2C_New_Hampshire)) in [Concord, New Hampshire](/source/Concord%2C_New_Hampshire).

He studied at [Deep Springs College](/source/Deep_Springs_College) in [California](/source/California), graduated with an A.B. from [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University), and received his [M.F.A.](/source/Master_of_Fine_Arts) in Creative Writing at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University).[6][7][8]

## Career

In addition to regularly writing for *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, Kunkel has written for the magazines *[Granta](/source/Granta)*, *[Dissent](/source/Dissent_(American_magazine))*, *[The Nation](/source/The_Nation_(U.S._periodical))*, *[The New York Review of Books](/source/The_New_York_Review_of_Books)*, *[The London Review of Books](/source/The_London_Review_of_Books)*, *[The Believer](/source/The_Believer_(magazine))*, and *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*.

Kunkel has written multiple short stories and book reviews for the print journal he started with friends from college and graduate school, *[n+1](/source/N%2B1)*. In the Fall 2004 issue, he published the short story "Horse Mountain," about an aging man. In the Spring 2005 issue, he published a review of [J.M. Coetzee](/source/J._M._Coetzee)'s works, imitating Coetzee's then-recent novel *[Elizabeth Costello](/source/Elizabeth_Costello)*. In the Fall 2005 issue, he published a short story "Or Things I Did Not Do or Say," about a man determined to kill another man.[9]

Much of Kunkel's work exhibits a preoccupation with global [social justice](/source/Social_justice) and leftist politics, including the [Marxist](/source/Marxist) overview *Utopia or Bust: A Guide to the Present Crisis*, the [Kirchner](/source/Kirchnerism) essay *Argentinidad*, and the anti-capitalist book *The Commonist Manifesto*. Kunkel is a member of the editorial committee of *[New Left Review](/source/New_Left_Review)*.[10]

## *Indecision*

*Indecision* was published by [Random House](/source/Random_House) in 2005. For the novel, in 2006 he won [Le Prix du Premier Roman étranger](/source/Prix_du_Premier_Roman).[11] *Indecision* begins with the acknowledgment, "For *n+1.*"

[Jay McInerney](/source/Jay_McInerney) wrote in the *New York Times Book Review* that it was "The funniest and smartest coming-of-age novel in years."[12] Kunkel has described the critically acclaimed novel as "overpraised."[13][14]

## Writings and interviews

### Archives of articles for other magazines

- [Archive](http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/benjamin_kunkel) of Kunkel's writings for *[The Nation](/source/The_Nation_(U.S._periodical))* (1999–2005).

- [Archive](http://www.believermag.com/contributors/?read=kunkel,+benjamin) of Kunkel's writings for *[The Believer](/source/The_Believer_(magazine))* (2003).

### Reviews

- ["The Ideal Husband"](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17756) – A review of [D. H. Lawrence](/source/D._H._Lawrence)'s *[The Lost Girl](/source/The_Lost_Girl)*. Published in the *[New York Review of Books](/source/New_York_Review_of_Books)* (February 24, 2005).

- ["The Unreal World"](https://archive.today/20130208234818/http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0107,kunkel,22245,10.html) – A review of [Don DeLillo](/source/Don_DeLillo)'s *[The Body Artist](/source/The_Body_Artist)*, *[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice)* (February 14–20, 2001).

- ["The Sea of Love"](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/books/review/lighthousekeeping-the-sea-of-love.html) – A review of *Lighthousekeeping* by [Jeanette Winterson](/source/Jeanette_Winterson), in *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* (May 1, 2005)

- "The Sameness of Different Things: Reading a new translation of *Capital* (discussed is *Capital: Critique of Political Economy, volume 1*, by Karl Marx, edited by Paul North and Paul Reitter, translated by Paul Reitter, Princeton University Press, 2024, 944 pp.), *[Harper's Magazine](/source/Harper's_Magazine)*, vol. 350, no. 2100 (May 2025), pp. 81–85.

### Interviews and reading

- ["Benjamin Kunkel's Tale of Indecision"](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4849360) – Kunkel reads from his novel on [NPR](/source/National_Public_Radio), (September 17, 2005).

- ["Welcome to the political world"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/nov/20/fiction.features) – Interview with Benjamin Kunkel in [The Observer](/source/The_Observer), (November 20, 2005).

- ["Attack of the listless lads"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080724060213/http://archive.salon.com/books/int/2005/09/20/kunkel/print.html) – Half-flippant, half-serious conversation with Kunkel about dating, relationships, and more theoretical gender relations in [Salon](/source/Salon.com), (September 20, 2005).

## Further reading

- Kelly, Adam. "From Syndrome to Sincerity: Benjamin Kunkel's *Indecision*." *Diseases and Disorders in Contemporary Fiction: The Syndrome Syndrome*. Ed. Timothy Lustig and James Peacock. London: Routledge, 2013. 53-66.

- Sauri, Emilio. "Cognitive Mapping, Then and Now: Postmodernism, *Indecision*, and American Literary Globalism." *Twentieth-Century Literature* 57.3 (Fall/Winter 2011): 472-91.

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-vulture1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-vulture1_1-1) Wallace, David (March 11, 2014). ["How Benjamin Kunkel Went From Novelist to Marxist Public Intellectual"](https://www.vulture.com/2014/03/benjamin-kunkel-marxist-novel-utopia-or-bust.html). Vulture. Retrieved March 3, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Benjamin Kunkel"](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16526.Benjamin_Kunkel). *www.goodreads.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Benjamin Kunkel"](https://newrepublic.com/authors/benjamin-kunkel?page=1). *The New Republic*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Foley, Dylan (December 25, 2008). [""State" treasures: Essays map magic"](https://www.denverpost.com/2008/12/25/state-treasures-essays-map-magic/). The Denver Post. Retrieved March 3, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Benjamin Kunkel (March 26, 2021). ["Benjamin Kunkel | In Boulder · LRB 26 March 2021"](https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2021/march/in-boulder). Lrb.co.uk. Retrieved March 3, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Benjamin Kunkel"](https://literaturfestival.com/en/authors/benjamin-kunkel/). international literature festival berlin. September 17, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Benjamin Kunkel | The Modern Novel"](https://www.themodernnovel.org/americas/other-americas/usa/kunkel/). *www.themodernnovel.org*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Benjamin Kunkel,"](https://www.gawker.com/551382/benjamin-kunkel) *Gawker*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Or Things I Did Not Do or Say | Issue 3 | n+1"](https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-3/fiction-drama/or-things-i-did-not-do-or-say/). Nplusonemag.com. May 25, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Benjamin Kunkel"](http://theartistsinstitute.org/artists/sept-dec-2017/benjamin-kunkel/). *The Artists Institute*. Retrieved March 3, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** livre, Actu/Monde du (October 25, 2006). ["Prix du premier roman : Benjamin Kunkel et Max Monnehay lauréats !"](http://www.buzz-litteraire.com/20061025492-prix-du-premier-roman-benjamin-kunkel-et-max-monnehay-laureats/). *BUZZ... littéraire : Critiques livres, romans et analyse*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Merritt, Stephanie (November 20, 2005). ["Welcome to the political world"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/nov/20/fiction.features). *The Observer* – via The Guardian.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["How Benjamin Kunkel Went From Novelist to Marxist Public Intellectual"](https://www.vulture.com/2014/03/benjamin-kunkel-marxist-novel-utopia-or-bust.html). *Vulture*. March 11, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** McInerney, Jay (August 28, 2005). ["'Indecision': Getting It Together"](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/books/review/28MCINER.html). *The New York Times*.

## External links

- [Metacritic Reviews](https://web.archive.org/web/20060108215046/http://www.metacritic.com/books/authors/kunkelbenjamin/indecision) – A compendium of reviews on *Indecision* available through the internet on metacritic.com.

- [November 2006 NY Magazine article](http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/24751/)

- *[n+1](http://nplusonemag.com/)* website

- [Twitter page](https://twitter.com/kunktation?lang=en)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Czech Republic Netherlands Norway Greece Poland Israel Croatia Academics CiNii Artists MusicBrainz People DDB Other IdRef Open Library Yale LUX

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Benjamin Kunkel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Kunkel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Kunkel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.