Purdy, James Amos (1923– )

US novelist. His first novel, Malcolm (1959), concerns the quest of a teenage boy for his lost father and is set in a world of bizarre depravity. It was followed by The Nephew (1960) and Cabot Wright Begins (1964). His novels, like his poetry and plays, deal with extreme emotional states and dramatic transformations. They typically treat homosexual subjects with stylistic elegance and a flair for strange or grotesque images.

Later novels include Out with the Stars (1992), Epistles of Care (1995), and Gertrude of Stoney Island (1996).