William McCranor Henderson (born in 1943 in Charlotte, North Carolina) is an American author whose writing explores the mutual influences of popular culture and literature, and the dark side of celebrity.George Myers, Jr. Columbus Dispatch, July 28, 1994Ann Alexander, Greensboro News & Record, March 6, 1992 Boston Magazine noted that his work displays "a real feel for the sad, ridiculous squalor in America, the tacky bars and beauty shops and motel swimming pools, the even cheaper dreams of the people who hang out at them."Lee Grove, Boston Magazine, January 1985 Henderson, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, "has managed the estimable feat of breathing new life into the theme of adulation and emulation in a fame-happy era."

Writing

Henderson is best known for his novels, Stark Raving Elvis and I Killed Hemingway. The Village Voice characterized Stark Raving Elvis (E.P. Dutton, 1984) as "profoundly concerned with contemporary American culture and its myths."Ed Ward, The Village Voice, January 29, 1985 Nikki Giovanni, in The New York Times, called it "funny and revealing,"Nikki Giovanni, New York Times Book Review, December 9, 1984 and The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Henderson's writing is nothing if not sure-handed––lean, taut, oddly graceful... There is dark fun to be had in Stark Raving Elvis."The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 25, 1984.

Published nine years later, I Killed Hemingway (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's, 1993) was a 1993 New York Times Notable Book of the Year.The New York Times Notable Books of the Year, 1993, December 5, 1993 Scott Byrd wrote (in Spectator Magazine), "Henderson's novel is as intricate as a Swiss watch. Fortunately, it runs efficiently—with a strong narrative drive, firm delineation of character, and desperate knowledge of how difficult it is for the central character to make sense of his life, to make peace with his shortcomings, and to define himself authentically."Scott Byrd, Spectator Magazine, April 8, 1993 Publishers Weekly observed that: "Henderson's dementedly comic, ribald foray into fiction and fact may alter forever the way we perceive the delicate art of biography."Publishers Weekly, January 25, 1993

I Elvis, Confessions of a Counterfeit King (Berkely/Boulevard, 1997), is a nonfiction account of Henderson's own struggle to learn the craft of Elvis impersonation"Elvis Breaks Out of Ivory Tower," Durham Herald-Sun, July 8, 1997 for what became, according to Kirkus Reviews, "a rollicking piece of gonzo journalism." Kirkus added: "Henderson's great achievement is to convey, in elegantly droll prose, what it's like to imagine being a great performer…in the face of real-world evidence to the contrary."Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 1997

Life

Henderson grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As a teenager, he was influenced by John Dos Passos' novel The Big Money.Essay: "Getting my hands around America," News and Observer, October 15, 1995Profile: William McCranor Henderson, Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2002 He attended Oberlin College, where he majored in philosophy.1st Prize in poetry, Plum Creek Review, Spring, 1965 He was accepted to the Iowa Writers' Workshop in poetry, and switched his course to fiction, studying with novelists Nelson Algren and Kurt Vonnegut.Kurt Vonnegut 1922–2007 Henderson's recollection of Vonnegut, a year after Vonnegut's deathProfile: William McCranor Henderson, Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2002

Throughout the 60s and 70s, Henderson lived in New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston,Profile, Emma Williams,The Daily Tar Heel, March 16, 1993 and had a variety of work experiences as a filmmaker, radio producer, and musician.Profile: Betty Hodges, Durham Herald, June 22, 1997 His first novel, Stark Raving Elvis, published in 1983, was loosely based on some of his early experiences as a musician."On the dark side of fame with an Elvis impersonator," The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 14, 1984Profile, Linda Brinson, Winston-Salem Journal, June 6, 1993

In 1989, he returned to Chapel Hill,"Return of the Native," Close to Home, John Blair, 1996, pp. 35–43 where he lives with his wife, Carol Henderson."Writer comes home with novel, new life," Debbie Miller, Chapel Hill News, April 14, 1993 From 1990 to 2002, Henderson served on the Creative Writing faculties of two universities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, teaching fiction writing to undergraduate and graduate level writers.

Bibliography

Stark Raving Elvis (1984) I Killed Hemingway (1993) I, Elvis: Confessions of a Counterfeit King (1997)

References

External links Henderson's website, "a.k.a. William McCranor Henderson" Henderson's personal blog