| Robert Flynn | |
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| Born | April 12, 1932 Chillicothe, Texas |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genres | Texas literature, Western fiction, satire, |
| Subjects | Texas, war, religion |
| Notable work(s) | North To Yesterday |
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Influences
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www.robertflynn.net |
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Robert Flynn (born in Chillicothe, Texas) is an author and professor emeritus at Trinity University.
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Flynn's early fame came with the novel, North to Yesterday, which was a national bestseller. In Don Quixote fashion, it mocked the legend of the cowboy in Western novels while paying homage to it at the same time (anticipating Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove). Later works focused on more modern themes: rural life, going to war, religion in modern times and conflicts between "small town morality" and mass media/pop culture.
Novels like In the House of the Lord explored more religious/spiritual themes. Wanderer Springs adopted the gently satirical tone of his earlier works while also examining the interconnectedness between people and families in a small Texas town (inviting comparison to writers like Elmer Kelton or Garrison Keillor). The Last Klick touches upon themes of his service in the Vietnam War (reminiscent of novelist Tim O'Brien). In his latest novel Tie-Fast Country, Flynn returns to earlier themes, depicting a grandmother rancher with a checkered past who is out of sync with contemporary life. (The narrator, on the other hand, is a TV news producer who has to confront her).
Flynn's short stories touch upon more serious themes and are written perhaps with a more lyrical style.