Neal Karlen

Education:
Brown University, Providence, RI.; BA in American Civilization; graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa; winner, Brown History Prize,  Brown American Civilization Prize, and American Historical Society national first prize.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; Masters program in Journalism and Mass Communication; thesis (in progress), “Anarchism to Assimilation: The Yiddish Immigrant Press in America, 1880—1930.”

Scholarly publications:
The Story of Yiddish (HarperCollins Books, to be published on William Morrow imprint’s History list, April, 2008); from 1991—2005, has published six other books from histories and literary nonfiction on topics ranging from vaudeville, the popular music industry, minor league baseball, and a memoir of religious assimilation in America.

Articles and fiction have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education; Clio: A Journal of History; The Indiana Review; research and writing has been cited in over 30 scholarly books and publications.

Teaching:
Lecturer, magazine and non-fiction writing, University of Minnesota, (Minneapolis,) School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 1995-2005; has guest lectured on fiction writing, literary non-fiction on behalf of the Brandeis University Scholarly Journal; Carleton College (Northfield, MN); Indiana University (Bloomington); Hamline University (St. Paul, MN); Michigan State University; St. Cloud State University (St. Cloud, MN); keynote speaker, “Best of the Midwest” college newspaper convention.

Professional experience:
Newsweek (New York), reporter, staff writer, Associate Editor 1982-1986; Rolling Stone (New York), Contributing Editor, 1986-1990; The New York Times, contract writer, has contributed over 60 articles, essays, and op-ed pieces, 1990—present; has also contributed to The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, New York, Spy, Slate, and dozens of other national and local publications.

Wrote libretto for the musician Prince’s rock opera “The Dawn” and libretto for “The Emperor’s New Clothes” for Minnesota Sinfonia.

Has appeared as on-camera essayist for CBS Network News shows “America Tonight” and “Off Tenth,” on-camera correspondent for BBC; has appeared on NBC, CNBC, CNN, and MTV.

Books:
The Story of Yiddish, HarperCollins, 2008; among other books (all with paperback versions) are a religious memoir, Shanda (Simon & Schuster, 2004); Slouching Toward Fargo (Avon Publishers, 1999); Jen-X (HarperCollins, 1997); Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band, (Random House, 1994); Take My Life, Please, (1991, William Morrow, Inc (now HarperCollins) biography of Henny Youngman and the last living vaudevillians.

Excerpted in Books:
Fishing with Fathers (Penguin, 2005, excerpts of several articles from The New York Times); The Complete Armchair Book of Baseball (Scribners, 1997); a history of baseball writing from Walt Whitman to the present, for Rolling Stone article “The Bad News Bees); cited in The Best Sports Stories of 1994 for work in The Village Voice); Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band, excerpted in The New York Times Sunday Arts and Leisure section (1994).

Book Awards:
Shanda; the Forwards’ top five Jewish books of the year (2005); Slouching Toward Fargo: “Casey Award” for best baseball-related book by the literary baseball journal, Spitball (2000); Jen-X, #1 national bestseller); Babes in Toyland, finalist, best music-related book of 1994, National Music Journalism Awards, cited by the New York Public Library as one of the best books of the year.

Current Research Interests:
Journalism history; Immigrant journalism history in the United States; Literary journalism; Jewish Studies, Yiddish studies.