Thomas McGuane

Thomas McGuane (born December 11, 1939, Wyandotte, Michigan, U.S.) is an American author noted for his picaresque novels of violent action set amid rural landscapes.

McGuane attended the University of Michigan, Olivet (Michigan) College, Michigan State University (B.A., 1962), Yale University (M.F.A., 1965), and Stanford University. McGuane’s first three novels—The Sporting Club (1969), The Bushwhacked Piano (1971), and Ninety-two in the Shade (1973)—present the central plot and theme of his early fiction: a man, usually from a secure family, exiles himself from American society (which he despises for its materialism and triviality), removes himself to an isolated locale, and then finds a reason—alienation, attraction to a woman, rights to territory—to oppose another man in a succession of acts of escalating violence and revenge.

The locales of his novels—Key West, Florida; northern Michigan; Montana—and his scenes of fishing and personal combat suggest the influence of Ernest Hemingway. Whereas McGuane’s early novels are noted for their stylistic extravagance, a growing plainness of style developed in his later novels. They include Panama (1978), Nobody’s Angel (1981), Something to Be Desired (1984), Keep the Change (1989), and Nothing but Blue Skies (1992). After a hiatus from writing novels, McGuane returned with The Cadence of Grass (2002), which depicts a Montana clan’s colourfully tangled lives. It was followed by Driving on the Rim (2010), a freewheeling tale of a small-town doctor.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

McGuane also wrote short stories, collected in To Skin a Cat (1986), Gallatin Canyon (2006), Crow Fair (2015), and Cloudbursts (2018). In addition, he penned screenplays, several of which were adaptations of his novels. His essay collections—An Outside Chance (1980; rev. ed., 1990), Some Horses (1999), and The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing (1999)—reflect mostly on leisure and the outdoors, especially his passion for fly-fishing and horseback riding. McGuane was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2010.