The Brooklyn Rail

This past spring, our dear friend, the wonderful, brilliant, passionate book critic John Domini passed away suddenly while traveling in Morocco. John was one of the most consistently generous and truly lovely comrades the Books section has had the pleasure to publish. At the time of his death, John and I were organizing a selection of his book criticism to be published next year. The majority of those pieces were chosen from his many contributions to the Brooklyn Rail. The archives of his criticism can be found on the Rail’s website. John not only was an ally to all writers, both emerging and established, but he strove to review diverse authors from across the globe. He had an MFA in creative writing from Johns Hopkins and a Ph.D. from Union Institute & University. And he counted writers such as John Barth, Donald Barthelme, Stanley Elkin, and Anne Sexton as his early writing teachers. Among the many, many pieces he's done for the Rail, he brought us interviews with Salman Rushdie and Marlon James, both of whom he counted as friends. He was well-travelled, spoke several languages, had published over a dozen books, and had the energy and passion and optimism of a person half his age. John was a dear friend of mine; someone whose intelligence and warmth and wisdom rescued me on more occasions than I can count. We participated together on many conference panels and literary readings, shared many meals and raised many glasses—his annual AWP dinners were legendary—and I will miss him sorely.

Over the past few months, I’ve collected tributes from friends and admirers of his who shared their thoughts and feelings, memories and moments—and several photographs. I hope you enjoy those tributes collected here.

John’s loss will be deeply felt, but his legacy of curiosity and courage, creativity and care, wit and wisdom will long live on.