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Jedediah Berry

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(Redirected from The Manual of Detection) American writer

Jedediah Berry
Born1977 (age 47–48)
Randolph, Vermont, U.S.
OccupationWriter
Alma materBard College
University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Notable awardsHammett Prize (2009)
Crawford Award (2010)
Website
thirdarchive.net

Jedediah Berry (born 1977) is an American writer. He is the author of two novels, The Manual of Detection (2009) and The Naming Song (2024).

Background and education

Berry was born in Randolph, Vermont, and spent his childhood in Catskill, New York. He attended Bard College, and earned a graduate degree from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked as an editor at Small Beer Press.

Work

Berry's first novel, The Manual of Detection, was published by The Penguin Press in 2009. It won the 2009 Hammett Prize and the 2010 Crawford Award. Set in an unnamed city, the novel follows file clerk Charles Unwin as he attempts to solve a mystery involving a missing detective and a criminal mastermind operating through people's dreams. He was a 2011 James Merrill House Fellow in Stonington, CT. Critics have noted that The Manual of Detection combines elements from several genres of fiction, including mystery and fantasy. Writing for The Guardian, Michael Moorcock situated the book within the tradition of steampunk fiction. The New Yorker called it “the kind of mannered fantasy that might result if Wes Anderson were to adapt Kafka.” A reviewer for The Observer compared it to The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien, and described it as “imaginative, fantastical, sometimes inexplicable, labyrinthine and ingenious.” An abridged version of the novel, read by Toby Jones, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in January 2013.

Berry's short stories have appeared in Conjunctions, Chicago Review, Ninth Letter, and other magazines. He has taught at the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and he currently teaches at Bard College.

Berry published The Family Arcana, a “story in cards” in 2015. It was nominated for the World Fantasy Award.

Berry’s second novel, The Naming Song , was published by Tor Books in 2024.

Notes

  1. "Jedediah Berry, Author at Tor Publishing Group".
  2. "Jedediah Berry: A Stranger Road", Locus, July 1, 2010
  3. Sciandra, Mary Frisque and Lisa. "IACW/NA: Hammett Prize: Past Years". www.crimewritersna.org. Archived from the original on April 29, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  4. "Jedediah Berry Wins Crawford Award". Locus Online. January 26, 2010. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  5. Lo Dico, Joy (June 20, 2010), "The Manual of Detection, By Jedediah Berry", The Independent on Sunday
  6. Moorcock, Michael (August 22, 2009), "The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry", The Guardian
  7. "Books Briefly Noted", The New Yorker, March 9, 2009
  8. Guttridge, Peter (April 5, 2009), "The Manual of Detection", The Observer
  9. "ManualOfDetection". Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  10. "Bard College".
  11. "The Family Arcana".
  12. https://torpublishinggroup.com/the-naming-song/

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