Percy, Walker, 1916–90, American novelist, b. Birmingham, Ala. Trained as a physician, Percy turned to writing after he contracted tuberculosis and was forced to retire from practice. His novels The Moviegoer (1961) and The Last Gentleman (1966) concern Southern gentlemen who are feeling the impact of changing times. Love in the Ruins (1971) is a science fiction satire. His other novels are Lancelot (1977), The Second Coming (1980), and The Thanatos Syndrome (1987). His occasional writings were collected in the posthumous Signposts in a Strange Land (1991).
See biography by J. Tolson (1992); studies by L. W. Hobson (1988) and J. D. Crowley, ed. (1989).
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