Nightmovers

by Jack Dunphy

The author jack Dunphy explores the twin motifs of human the terror of loneliness and the heartrending search for warmth and love. This story is about a middle-aged Irish woman who has recently lived through two overwhelming losses; the death of her husband and the demolition of the Brooklyn fish store that served as her own small window to the world. Except for the occasional visits of Father Rose, a beautifully portrayed fallen priest, there is no one to comfort her. Then a tumultuous, shattering event occurs in her life. It is the entrance into her world of a young wanderer and waif who seeks out and is sought by her and whom both think of as her “cousin,” newly arrived from the Old World. This relationship between the older woman and young boy becomes the pivot for the story. To the older woman, the young boy has brought the essential human kindness. How she moves from despair to euphoria and when she finally achieves her own peace with life serve as the melodic threads for this work.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1968

About the author

His career began in dance and show business but soon turned to writing short stories and novels, and plays that were produced Off Broadway.

Trained in ballet under Catherine Littlefield, Mr. Dunphy toured with the Balanchine company in South America and danced at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. He married another dancer from Philadelphia, Joan McCracken, and together they played in the original "Oklahoma!" on Broadway. Praise for First Novel

His first novel, "John Fury" (Harper, 1946), won praise, particularly for its compassion and restraint. His compassion was also cited in reviews of his other novels, which frequently dealt with troubled families and the despair and loneliness of everyday people. Many of his characters were Irish-Americans, and he often set his stories in Philadelphia.

His plays met with less success, but critics called his books sensitive and carefully written with lyrical passages.

At a cocktail party in 1948 he met another rising author, Mr. Capote, and they fell in love. Mr. Dunphy had separated from his wife, and later they divorced.

Mr. Capote once said Mr. Dunphy "is my family" and the only man he ever loved. They frequently traveled to places like Greece, Italy and Switzerland. But Mr. Dunphy, a private man, shied away from Mr. Capote's fascination with high society. They lived together off and on. For some years their relationship was platonic, but they remained best friends.

When Mr. Capote died in 1984, his will named Mr. Dunphy as the chief beneficiary. He wrote of their times together in "Dear Genius: A Memoir of My Life With Truman Capote" (McGraw-Hill, 1987).

John Paul Dunphy was born in Atlantic City and grew up in Philadelphia. In his youth he worked odd jobs, as a printer's devil for a book publisher and an apple picker in Bucks County in Pennsylvania.

While serving in the United States Army in Germany in World War II, he published his first work, "The Life of a Carrot," in Short Story magazine. More stories followed in Harper's Bazaar and other magazines.