羅伯特·庫佛

羅伯特·庫佛（Robert Coover，catIdx=C）是一位撰寫長短篇小說的美國作家，布朗大學的文藝系榮譽教授。一般將他的文風歸類為奇幻虛構（fabulation）及後設（metafiction）小說。

**經歷與工作**
庫佛於愛荷華州查爾斯市出生。大學就讀於南伊利諾大學卡爾德本校區，並於1953年於印第安那大學取得文學士學位，主修斯拉夫語，之後則進入美國海軍服役。庫佛於1965年取得芝加哥大學人文社會碩士學位，並於1968年間連署簽立了「編作者反對課徵戰爭稅」聲明，拒絕為越戰而繳納戰爭稅。庫佛曾執教於居所地附近的多所大學，並於1981年至2012年間在布朗大學任教。
庫佛的妻子皮拉勒（Pilar Sans Coover）是一位著名的十字繡藝術家。庫佛夫妻育有3名子女，女兒莎拉·考德威爾也是作家、劇本家及製片人。
庫費的第1部小說是「布魯內斯的起源」（The Origin of Brunists，在小說中礦災的唯一倖存者開始從事一種莫名的宗教儀式。他的第2本小說是「環球棒球企業-J.亨利沃，命題」（The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.），是在描述一個身為創造者的角色。沃，一位個性害羞、不善交際的會計的虛構人物，創立了1場棒球比賽，在比賽中每次攻守都是由丟骰子來決定，並幻想球員們都會依照丟骰子的結果作出相應的行為。
庫佛最知名的作品是「公眾的怒火」（The Public Burning），內容敘述羅森堡夫婦案，使用的文體之後被稱為「魔幻現實主義」。此部小說有一半的內容是著重於描寫神話英雄「山姆大叔」所為荒誕不經的故事，以及如何與對手「神奇幻象」相處，後者其實是譬喻國際共產主義。其他章節則在描寫總統尼克森在眾口鑠金之中努力探求到底發生了什麼事情。
庫佛之後撰寫了中篇小說「不管愁眉苦臉的芝加哥小熊隊發生了什麼事」（Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears），讓讀者看到了另一個一邊狂熱於追求現實世界政治上的成功、一邊也同樣熱中於性及美式足球的尼克森總統。而庫佛的文選集「一個看電影的夜晚」（A Night at the Movies）中收入了「你得記住」（You Must Remember This）這篇小說，內容是關於電影「北非諜影」，特色在於清楚的描述了當攝影機沒有照到男女主角Rick和IIsa的時候，他們作了何事。至於小說「皮諾邱在威尼斯」（Pinocchio in Venice）則又回到了以神話為主題的內容。
庫佛在講臺上示範操作軟體「CaveWriting」
庫佛是電子文學組織（Electronic Literature Organization）的發起人之一。1987年時，庫佛獲頒Rea短篇小說獎（Rea Award for the Short Story）。

**獲獎記錄**
 1967年以「布魯內斯的起源」獲頒威廉·福克納基金會獎（William Faulkner Foundation Award），獎項為矚目新進作品。- 1987年獲頒Rea短篇小說獎。

**參見**
 電子文學（Electronic literature）

**部分作品**

**小說**
 The Origin of the Brunists (1966)- The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. (1968)- The Public Burning (1977)- Gerald's Party (1986)- Pinocchio in Venice (1991)- John's Wife (1996)- Ghost Town (1998)- The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Director's Cut (2002)- Noir (2010)- The Brunist Day of Wrath (2014)- Huck Out West (2017)

**短篇小說、中篇小說、戲劇與文集**
 Pricksongs & Descants (1969) (collection)- "The Babysitter," inspiration for The Babysitter (1969) (short story)- A Theological Position (1972) (plays)- A Political Fable (1980) (novella)
** Originally published as a short story "The Cat in the Hat for President" in New American Review, 1968.- Spanking the Maid (1982) (novella)- In Bed One Night & Other Brief Encounters (1983) (collection)- Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears (1987) (novella)- A Night at the Movies or, You Must Remember This (1987) (themed anthology)- Dr. Chen's Amazing Adventure (1991) (novella)- Briar Rose (1996) (novella)- The Grand Hotels (of Joseph Cornell) (2002) (novella)- Stepmother (2004) (novella)- A Child Again (2005) (collection)- Going for a Beer (February 2018)(collection)- cite magazine|title=The Case of the Severed Hand|url=http://harpers.org/archive/2008/07/the-case-of-the-severed-hand/|date=July 2008|issue=1898|volume=317|pages=74–80|magazine=Harper's Magazine|journal=|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2020-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809204047/https://harpers.org/archive/2008/07/the-case-of-the-severed-hand/- 重印於《Noir》。- cite magazine|title=White-bread Jesus|url=http://harpers.org/archive/2008/12/white-bread-jesus/|date=December 2008|issue=1903|volume=317|pages=79–88|magazine=Harper's Magazine|journal=|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2021-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125083728/https://harpers.org/archive/2008/12/white-bread-jesus/- Reprinted in The Brunist Day of Wrath, Chapter I.2- cite magazine|title=An Encounter|url=http://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/2010/10/an-encounter/|date=October 2010|magazine=Fortnightly Review|journal=|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2020-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216153558/https://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/2010/10/an-encounter/- cite magazine|title=The Old Man|url=http://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/2011/02/the-old-man/|date=February 2011|magazine=Fortnightly Review|journal=|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2020-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216083028/https://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/2011/02/the-old-man/- cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/03/14/110314fi_fiction_coover|title=Going for a beer|date=March 14, 2011|publisher=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2014-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606005858/http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/03/14/110314fi_fiction_coover- cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/07/25/110725fi_fiction_coover|title=Matinée|date=July 25, 2011|publisher=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2013-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612022711/http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/07/25/110725fi_fiction_coover- cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/02/the-colonels-daughter|title=The Colonel's Daughter|date=September 2, 2013|publisher=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2021-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226163501/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/02/the-colonels-daughter- cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/27/the-frog-prince|title=The Frog Prince|date=January 27, 2014|publisher=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2021-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117102734/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/27/the-frog-prince- cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/19/the-waitress|title=The Waitress|date=May 19, 2014|publisher=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2021-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226172303/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/19/the-waitress- cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/12/crabapple-tree|title=The Crabapple Tree|date=January 12, 2015|publisher=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2020-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108124606/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/12/crabapple-tree- cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/28/the-hanging-of-the-schoolmarm|title=The Hanging of the Schoolmarm|date=November 28, 2016|publisher=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2020-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108114411/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/28/the-hanging-of-the-schoolmarm

**散文**
 Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/27/specials/coover-end|title=The End of Books|date=June 21, 1992|publisher=The New York Times (essay)

**參考文獻**

**外部連結**
  Faculty Home Page at Brown University date=20201130054410 - archivedate=2011-07-21– Interview- id=0178518-  The End of Books date=20170210234752 - archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905192135/https://vimeo.com/1765099– Novelist Robert Coover's keynote address at the Electronic Literature in Europe seminar (elitineurope.net), September 13, 2008. Introduced by Scott Rettberg. Videography by Martin Arvebro.- archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301001152/https://radioopensource.org/in-the-obama-moment-robert-coover/ Radio Interview- Bookworm Interviews (Audio) with Michael Silverblatt:  December 2005,  December 2005 date=20160304081330