hindered by a Friedrich Nietzsche -quoting manager and his Hegelian nemesis, to find that his wrestling matches are choreographed by a shadowy organization that enacts their various Gnostic theological debates through the pageantry and panoply of the ring. He eventually learns to resolve his own dualistic nature and determine who he is despite the role he plays. The Church of Dead Girls is a novel about a small town's hysterical response to the mysterious disappearance of three of its teenaged girls. Boy in the Water is a novel about events in a secluded private school in the United States. Jenny Hilborne, wrote in New York Journal of Books that The Burn Palace "is an intriguing fictional mystery set in the town of Brewster, Rhode Island, and includes elements of the supernatural, satanism, and other alternate religions, including neo-pagans, Wicca, and witchcraft...mysterious and engaging . . .” Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? was named one of Publishers Weekly'''s Best Mysteries of 2015. Bibliography PoetryConcurring Beasts (1972)Griffon: Poems (1976)Heat Death (1980)The Balthus Poems (1982) Black Dog, Red Dog (1984) Cemetery Nights (1987) Body Traffic (1990)Velocities: New and Selected Poems, 1966-1992 (1994) Common Carnage (1996)Pallbearers Envying the One Who Rides (1999) The Porcupine's Kisses (2002)Mystery, So Long (2005)Winter's Journey (Copper Canyon Press, 2010)The Day's Last Light Reddens the Leaves of the Copper Beech (BOA Editions, 2016) FictionA Man of Little Evils (1973) Dancer With One Leg (1983)Cold Dog Soup (1985)A Boat Off the Coast (1987)The Two Deaths of Senora Puccini (1988) The House on Alexandrine (1990) After Shocks/Near Escapes (1991)The Wrestler's Cruel Study (1993) The Church of Dead Girls (1997) Boy in the Water (1999) Eating Naked [SS] (2000) The Burn Palace (2013) Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? (2015) Charlie Bradshaw seriesSaratoga Longshot (1976) Saratoga Swimmer (1981) Saratoga Headhunter (1985) Saratoga Snapper (1986) Saratoga Bestiary (1988) Saratoga Hexameter (1990)Saratoga Haunting (1993)Saratoga Backtalk (1994) Saratoga Fleshpot (1995) Saratoga Strongbox (1998) Saratoga Payback (2017) NonfictionBest Words, Best Order: Essays on Poetry (1996)Next Word, Better Word: The Craft of Writing Poetry'' (2011) References External links Interview with Stephen Dobyns 1941 births Living people 20th-century American novelists University of Iowa alumni Wayne State University alumni Shimer College alumni University of Iowa faculty Syracuse University faculty Boston University faculty Sarah Lawrence College faculty People from Orange, New Jersey Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni 21st-century American novelists Novelists from New Jersey 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets American male novelists