Bruce Jay Friedman

Bruce Jay Friedman (born April 26, 1930, New York City, New York, U.S.—died June 3, 2020, Brooklyn, New York) American comic author whose dark, mocking humour and social criticism were directed at the concerns and behaviours of American Jews.

After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1951 with a B.A. in journalism and serving in the U.S. Air Force for two years, Friedman worked in publishing for several years before achieving success with his first novel, Stern (1962). The title character is a luckless descendent of the biblical Job, unable to assimilate into mainstream American life. Virtually all of Friedman’s works are a variation on this theme; most of his characters are Jewish by birth, but they feel alienated from both Jewish and American culture. His works are also noted for focusing on absurd characters and situations.

Friedman’s later novels included A Mother’s Kisses (1964), About Harry Towns (1974), Tokyo Woes (1985), The Current Climate (1989), A Father’s Kisses (1996), and Violencia! A Musical Novel (2001). He also wrote such short-story collections as Far from the City of Class (1963), Black Angels (1966), Let’s Hear It for a Beautiful Guy (1984), The Collected Short Fiction of Bruce Jay Friedman (1995), and Three Balconies (2008), which also contains a novella. Friedman’s other works included the essay collection The Lonely Guy’s Book of Life (1978; filmed as The Lonely Guy, 1984) and the plays Scuba Duba: A Tense Comedy (1967), Steambath (1971; filmed 1972), and Have You Spoken to Any Jews Lately? (1995). In addition, he penned several screenplays, notably Stir Crazy (1980) and Splash (1984; written with others). Lucky Bruce: A Literary Memoir was published in 2011.