born May 11, 1930, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died May 31, 1995, St. Louis, Mo.
U.S. writer.
He grew up in Chicago; from 1960 he taught writing at Washington University. His works explore contemporary life with tragicomic wit and imaginative insight. Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers (1966) was an acclaimed collection of short stories on Jewish themes. The novel The Franchiser (1976) tells of Ben Flesh, who, like Elkin, suffered from multiple sclerosis, which is for Flesh both an enlightenment and a burden. The Living End (1979) consists of three interwoven novellas.