Fun with Problems

Robert Stone was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 21, 1937. His parents never married and his father was not part of his life. His mother had schizophrenia and was frequently hospitalized. From the ages of 6 to 10, he lived in an orphanage run by the Marist brothers. In 1954, he dropped out of high school and joined the Navy, where he earned his high school equivalency diploma. In the 1960's, he briefly attended New York University, worked as a copy boy for the New York Daily News, and attended the Wallace Stegner writing workshop at Standford University.

His first novel, A Hall of Mirrors, won a William Faulkner Foundation award for best first novel of 1967 and was adapted into a movie entitled WUSA starring Paul Newman. His other books include Children of Light, Outerbridge Reach, Damascus Gate, Bear and His Daughter, Fun with Problems, Bay of Souls, and Death of the Black-Haired Girl. He also wrote a memoir entitled Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties. He won numerous awards including the National Book Award in 1975 for Dog Soldier, which was adapted into a movie entitled Who'll Stop the Rain starring Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld, and a PEN/Faulkner Award for A Flag for Sunrise. He died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on January 10, 2015 at the age of 77.

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