Editing Fred Waitzkin

{{short description|American novelist and writer (born 1943)}}
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| notableworks = ''Searching for Bobby Fischer''
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'''Fred Waitzkin''' (born 1943 in [[Massachusetts]]) is an American novelist and writer for ''[[The New York Times]]'' ''Sunday Magazine'', ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'', and ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]''. He graduated from [[Kenyon College]] in [[Gambier, Ohio]] in 1965, and lives in [[New York City]] and [[Martha's Vineyard]].<ref name="Helmer2005">{{cite book |author=Jay Helmer |title=Kenyon College |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7Bq04JrSSEC&pg=PA123 |date=January 2005 |publisher=College Prowler, Inc |isbn=978-1-59658-071-8 |pages=123–}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/07/magazine/king-kasparov.html |title=King Kasparov |work=The New York Times |date=7 October 1990 |access-date=15 May 2016 |last1=Waitzkin |first1=Fred }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/from-chess-to-dreams-interview-on-the-creative-writing-process-with-fred-waitzkin/ |title=From Chess to Dreams: Interview on the Creative Writing Process with Fred Waitzkin |author=Scott Barry Kaufman |work=Scientific American Blog Network |access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=List of Kenyon College people|date=2019-08-08|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Kenyon_College_people&oldid=909929921|work=Wikipedia|language=en|access-date=2019-11-21}}</ref>

Waitzkin is the father of [[chess prodigy]] [[Joshua Waitzkin]]<ref name="Amis2014">{{cite book |author=Martin Amis |title=The War Against Cliche: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_sYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT322 |date=17 September 2014 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-101-91025-2 |pages=322– |quote=As a 'chess parent', a journalist, and a sane man, Fred Waitzkin is articulately aware of what he is doing. And what he is doing isn't always pretty. Full of bafflement, doubt, persistent self-reproach and comically vulgar ambition, he continues to ...}}</ref> and wrote a book about his son called ''Searching for Bobby Fischer''; he felt that Joshua could be a successor to [[Bobby Fischer]]. The book was praised by [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] [[Nigel Short]],<ref>The Spectator, April 8, 1989, pp. 30–31</ref> as well as chess journalist [[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]], who called it "a delightful book" in which "the topics [are] treated with an acuity and grace that offer the reviewer something quotable on almost every page."<ref>[http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/waitzkin.html Searching for Bobby Fischer review], Edward Winter, Chess History, 1989</ref> Screenwriter and playwright [[Tom Stoppard]] called the book "well written" and "captivating".<ref>The Observer, April 2, 1989, p.45</ref> The book was made into the Academy Award-nominated  [[Searching for Bobby Fischer|namesake film]]<ref name="Ebert2009">{{cite book |author=Roger Ebert |title=Roger Ebert's Four Star Reviews--1967-2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v43dJNPMJIkC&pg=PA683 |date=15 June 2009 |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |isbn=978-0-7407-9217-5 |pages=683– |quote=The screenplay by Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), based on Fred Waitzkin's autobiographical book, is best when it deals with the issues surrounding competitive chess. Is winning, for example, the only thing? Is chess so important that it ...}}</ref><ref name="DidingerMacnow2009">{{cite book |author1=Ray Didinger |author2=Glen Macnow |title=The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Sports Films of All Time |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3I54l-8RRQC&pg=PA283 |year=2009 |publisher=Perseus Books Group |isbn=978-0-7624-3921-8 |pages=283– |quote=Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on a true story and was adapted from a book written by Fred Waitzkin, Josh's true-life father. It is good to know that Josh survived his childhood, went on to win two U.S. Junior Chess championships in his ...}}</ref> (but released in the [[United Kingdom|U.K.]] as ''Innocent Moves''), with [[Joe Mantegna]] playing Joshua Waitzkin's father.<ref name="Halliwell1996">{{cite book |author=Leslie Halliwell |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g0FAAQAAIAAJ |year=1996 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=978-0-06-273372-6 |pages=1085– |quote=GB title; Innocent Moves A father discovers that his seven -year- old son is a chess prodigy. ... exciting and accessible to non-players. wd Steven Zaillian book Fred Waitzkin ph Conrad L. Hall m James Horner pd David Gropman ed Wayne ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Film review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=359ZAAAAMAAJ |series=6-7 |year=1994 |publisher=Orpheus Pub. |quote=Innocent Moves is based on the book Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin, which tells the true story of Josh, now aged 15. The subject matter might at first appear dull, but the vivid characters, the emotional heartache, and the belly ...}}</ref>

== Major works ==
*1988: ''Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess''
*{{cite book |author1=Josh Waitzkin |author2=Fred Waitzkin |title=Attacking Chess: Aggressive Strategies and Inside Moves from the U.S. Junior Chess Champion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXkahAwOtjoC |date=1 August 1995 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-80250-3 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book |author=Fred Waitzkin |title=The Last Marlin: The Story of a Father and Son |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHNzc0HpI20C |date=2001 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-100188-3 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book |author=Fred Waitzkin |title=Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=53xcmgEACAAJ |date=2013 |publisher=Perseus Books Group |isbn=978-0-7867-5487-8 |author-mask=1}}<ref name="Hale2013">{{cite book |author=Benjamin Hale |title=Philosophy Looks at Chess |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xaxkJnLp50C&pg=PA108 |date=21 August 2013 |publisher=Open Court |isbn=978-0-8126-9818-3 |pages=108– |quote=The real Fred Waitzkin wrote not only Searching for Bobby Fischer, a book I like very much, but also a very interesting biography of Garry Kasparov, with the significant—especially for my purposes here—title Mortal Games (1993). Now, if I ...}}</ref>
*''The Dream Merchant''

== See also ==
*[[List of books and documentaries by or about Bobby Fischer]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.fredwaitzkin.com}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waitzkin, Fred}}
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American chess writers]]
[[Category:Jewish American novelists]]
[[Category:Kenyon College alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]


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