David Rhodes (author)

David Rhodes (1946 – 2022) was an American novelist. He published six novels; the most recent, Painting Beyond Walls, was published in 2022.

Rhodes grew up outside Des Moines, Iowa. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marlboro College in 1969 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from The Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1971.^[1]

In 1977, Rhodes suffered a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down.^[2] Driftless was his first book since his return to publishing. In 1983, John Gardner had noted Rhodes favorably in On Becoming a Novelist which had helped lead, years later, to Rhodes' publishing his final three novels with Milkweed.^[3]

Rhodes lived with his wife, Edna, in rural Wonewoc, Wisconsin. He died on November 10, 2022, in Iowa City, Iowa.^[4]

• The Last Fair Deal Going Down (Atlantic Little Brown, 1972)
• The Easter House (Harper & Row, 1974)
• Rock Island Line (Harper & Row, 1975)
• Driftless (Milkweed Editions, 2008); a novel set in the Driftless Area, in the fictional town of Words, Wisconsin
• Jewelweed (Milkweed Editions, 2013)
• Painting Beyond Walls (Milkweed Editions, 2022)

• Poets & Writers article
• Radio interview on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook
• Sharma-Jensen, Geeta. "Wisconsin writer David Rhodes publishes 'Driftless'", Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), 20 October 2008.
• "Driftless by David Rhodes", California Literary Review, John Holt, November 11, 2008
• Maggie Ginsberg. Eerie, barely futuristic vision of a gated community in the Driftless haunts new novel from acclaimed author, Madison Magazine (Madison, Wisconsin), 20 September 2022.