About Henry Grinberg

Born to immigrant Jewish parents in London in 1930, Henry Grinberg spent World War II as a schoolboy, sometimes evacuated to safer locales and sometimes subjected to severe bombing by the Nazi enemy. Grateful that Britain was never occupied by the Germans, he is haunted by questions of what if? But, far from a pessimist, he has pursued a satisfying career as a college English professor and psychoanalyst, is a passionate World War II buff, an ardent lover of classical music, and an amateur pianist.

Variations on the Beast, written from the viewpoint of his corrupt protagonist, a charismatic conductor, reflects his interest in music, the giant egos to be found there, and the contradictions that arise when moral corruption and genius exist in the same person. He wrestles with a question that has no good answer: How did the German nation, described as the most cultivated and highly educated on earth, turn out during the Hitler years to be the most bestial?

Wild About Harry, written from the viewpoint of a spirited eight-year-old boy, Harry Glass, is the semiautobiographical tale of two years spent under the threat of war and then its reality. Native-born Londoner that Harry is, he both puzzles and appalls his immigrant parents. His evacuation to Wales proves to be not only a keen adventure but also an eye-opener on human relations.

The author himself immigrated to America in 1948, as long planned by his family. Four years later, he graduated from Brooklyn College, where he was the music critic on the student newspaper, played double bass and tympani in the college orchestra, and performed as Dr. Chasuble in the school production of The Importance of Being Earnest, for which he also composed original music. After graduating, he was invited back to play Antonio in the school production of The Merchant of Venice.

In 1957, he unexpectedly felt the lure of medieval studies and went back to school, earning an MA (Hunter College, 1960) and PhD (New York University, 1968) in medieval and comparative literature. He taught literature and writing at the City University of New York and other institutions for 42 years. In 1986, he qualified as a psychoanalyst and maintained a small private practice for 30 years. Now retired, he lives in New York with his wife, poet and writer Suzanne Noguere.