# David Means

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American short story writer and novelist

David Means Means speaking in New York, 2013

**David Means** (born October 17, 1961)[1] is an American short story writer and novelist based in [Nyack, New York](/source/Nyack%2C_New_York). His stories have appeared in many publications, including *[Esquire](/source/Esquire_Magazine)*, *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*, and *[Harper's](/source/Harper's)*. They are frequently set in the [Midwest](/source/Midwestern_United_States) or the [Rust Belt](/source/Rust_Belt), or along the Hudson River in New York.

## Biography

Born in [Kalamazoo, Michigan](/source/Kalamazoo%2C_Michigan), Means graduated from [Loy Norrix High School](/source/Loy_Norrix_High_School) in 1980.[2] He received his bachelor's degree in 1984 from the [College of Wooster](/source/College_of_Wooster), where his [I.S.](/source/College_of_Wooster#Independent_Study_program) was "Bullfighting in Boston and other Poems".[3] He went to graduate school at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University), where he received an MFA in poetry.[4] He has been a part-time member of the English department at [Vassar College](/source/Vassar_College) since 2001. Means is married with two children.[2]

## Work

*Contemporary Authors* writes: "With Means's second collection, *Assorted Fire Events: Stories*, he was compared favorably to such esteemed writers as [Raymond Carver](/source/Raymond_Carver) and [Alice Munro](/source/Alice_Munro) and praised by critics for his sharp prose."[5] James Wood, in *The London Review of Books* notes that "Means' language offers an exquisitely precise and sensuous register of an often crazy American reality. Sentences gleaming with lustre are sewn through the stories. One will go a long way with a writer possessed of such skill. You can hear the influence of Flannery O'Connor in Means' prose: in the scintillating shiver of the beautiful imagery, in the lack of sentimentality, in the interest in grotesque violence, and gothic tricksterism." [Eileen Battersby](/source/Eileen_Battersby) in *[The Irish Times](/source/The_Irish_Times)* has compared Means' work to that of [Eudora Welty](/source/Eudora_Welty) and [John Cheever](/source/John_Cheever).[6] [Story consultant](/source/Story_consultant) [Robert McKee](/source/Robert_McKee) said, "David Means writes short stories, I suspect, because his arsenal of prose techniques is so diverse, he needs hundreds of tellings to explore them all."[7]

His first novel *Hystopia* was long listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2016.[8]

## Bibliography

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2024)

Means with [Karl Greenfeld](/source/Karl_Greenfeld), 2013.

### Novels

- *[Hystopia](/source/Hystopia)* (2016) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780865479135](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780865479135)

### Short fiction

#### Collections

- *A Quick Kiss of Redemption* (1991) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780688094591](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780688094591)

- *Assorted Fire Events* (2000) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781893956056](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781893956056)

- *The Secret Goldfish* (2004) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780007164899](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780007164899)

- *The Spot* (2010) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780865479128](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780865479128)

- *Instructions for a Funeral* (2019) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780374279813](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780374279813)

- *Two Nurses, Smoking* (2022) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780374606077](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780374606077)

#### Appearances in anthologies

- *Fakes: An Anthology of Pseudo-Interviews, Faux-Lectures, Quasi-Letters, "Found" Texts, and Other Fraudulent Artifacts*, edited by David Shields and Matthew Vollmer, W. W. Norton, 2012

## Awards

- [Los Angeles Times Book Prize](/source/Los_Angeles_Times_Book_Prize) (2000) for *Assorted Fire Events*[9]

- [National Book Critics Circle Award](/source/National_Book_Critics_Circle_Award) (Finalist, 2000) for *Assorted Fire Events*[10]

- [Pushcart Prize](/source/Pushcart_Prize) (2001)[2]

- [O. Henry Prize](/source/O._Henry_Award) (2006) for "Sault Ste. Marie"[11]

- [Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award](/source/Frank_O'Connor_International_Short_Story_Award) (Shortlist, 2005) for *The Secret Goldfish*[12]

- O. Henry Prize (2011) for "The Junction"[13]

- PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story (2025)[14]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-LOC_1-0)** ["Assorted fire events : stories"](http://lccn.loc.gov/00133360). *[Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress)*. Retrieved July 22, 2011.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Castranova_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Castranova_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Castranova_2-2) Michael Chevy, Castranova (August 8, 2010). ["David Means explores stories of 'victims': Former Kalamazoo writer seeks a darker perspective"](http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/08/david_means_explores_stories_o.html). *[The Kalamazoo Gazette](/source/Kalamazoo_Gazette)*. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-COW_3-0)** ["I.S. Database"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110722123915/http://www.wooster.edu/Independent-Study/Search-the-IS-Database). *College of Wooster*. Archived from [the original](http://www.wooster.edu/Independent-Study/Search-the-IS-Database) on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Powell's_4-0)** ["David Means Makes It Work"](http://www.powells.com/blog/interviews/david-means-makes-it-work/). *Powell's Books*. October 10, 2006. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** *Contemporary Authors Online*, Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007. [http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC](http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Iowa_6-0)** ["Oct. 6 WSUI Reading Features Short Story Writer David Means"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111001091505/http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2004/september/092204means-PL.html). *University News Service*. University of Iowa. September 22, 2004. Archived from [the original](http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2004/september/092204means-PL.html) on October 1, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** McKee, Robert (2016). *Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for the Page, Stage, and Screen*. New York: Twelve. p. 80. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781455591916](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781455591916).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["War Is Hell: PW Talks with David Means"](http://publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/69442-war-is-hell-pw-talks-with-david-means.html). *PublishersWeekly.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-LATimes_9-0)** ["2000 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winners"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110704145506/http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/year-2000/). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. Archived from [the original](http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/year-2000/) on July 4, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NBCC_10-0)** ["All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists - Page 2"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180223040500/http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/page_2/). *National Book Critics Circle*. Archived from [the original](http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/page_2) on February 23, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-O'Henry2006_11-0)** ["The O. Henry Prize Stories 2006"](http://www.randomhouse.com/book/57126/the-o-henry-prize-stories-2006-by-laura-furman/9781400095391/#tableofcontents). *Random House*. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Crown_12-0)** Crown, Sarah (September 26, 2005). ["Inaugural short story award goes to debut author"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/sep/26/news.awardsandprizes). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-O'Henry2011_13-0)** ["The O. Henry Prize Stories 2011"](http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/ohenry/winners/). *The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories*. Anchor Books. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** [https://www.penfaulkner.org/2025/06/09/david-means-wins-the-2025-pen-malamud-award-for-excellence-in-the-short-story](https://www.penfaulkner.org/2025/06/09/david-means-wins-the-2025-pen-malamud-award-for-excellence-in-the-short-story)

## External links

- [New York Times interview with David Means](https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/stray-questions-for-david-means)

- [New Yorker interview with David Means](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/07/the-exchange-david-means.html)

- [The Guardian (London) review of The Spot](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/27/spot-stories-david-means-review)

- [Leonard Lopate Show radio interview with David Means](https://web.archive.org/web/20111003193049/http://mediasearch.wnyc.org/m/32001480/the-spot.htm)

- [Time Out review of The Spot](http://newyork.timeout.com/arts-culture/books/72134/the-spot)

- [Chicago Tribune review of The Spot](http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/printers-row/2010/05/review-the-spot-by-david-means.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140512223852/http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/printers-row/2010/05/review-the-spot-by-david-means.html) 2014-05-12 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [Interview with David Means](http://bookmunch.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/why-don't-you-ask-bob-dylan-or-bruce-springsteen-when-they're-going-to-write-a-symphony-interview-with-david-means-author-of-the-spot/)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

- ["Elective Mute" (Story)](http://www.esquire.com/fiction/ESQ0207Elective) from [Esquire](/source/Esquire_Magazine)

- Ponteri, Jay. ["David Means and the Secret Mystery"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061003204356/http://www.loggernaut.org/interviews/davidmeans/). *[Loggernaut](/source/Loggernaut)*, 2005. Long interview discussing the author's work.

- [Radio interview in which David Means discusses his book *Assorted Fire Events* and reads his short story *The Woodcutter*](http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw011115david_means/media_player_archives?action=listen)

- [Interview at Powells.com](https://web.archive.org/web/20080924233354/http://www.powells.com/authors/means.html)

- [Short story "The Knocking" at *The New Yorker*](http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/03/15/100315fi_fiction_means)

- [2010 Short story collection "The Spot"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110913100142/http://us.macmillan.com/thespot)

- [New York Times Review of The Secret Goldfish](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/27/books/books-of-the-times-husks-of-lives-under-an-impassive-great-lakes-sky.html)

- [Essay about stories by David Means](https://may-on-the-short-story.blogspot.com/search/label/David%20Means)

- [Artist George Condo on David Means](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marina-cashdan/the-mental-states-of-geor_b_813466.html)

- [David Means reads "Chef's House" by Raymond Carver/New Yorker/short interview](http://www.newyorker.com/online/2010/10/18/101018on_audio_means)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Netherlands Israel Other IdRef

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