Postmodern author David Markson dies at 82

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David Markson, a revered postmodern author who rummaged relentlessly and humorously through art, history and human nature in such novels as ‘Wittgenstein’s Mistress’ and wrote crime fiction, poetry and a spoof of Westerns that were made into the Frank Sinatra film ‘Dirty Dingus Magee,’ has died in New York. He was 82.

The author’s literary agent and former wife Elaine Markson said Monday that Markson was found in his bed in his Greenwich Village apartment late last week. She did not know the cause of death but said Markson had been in failing health.

Little known to the general public, Markson was idolized by a core of fans who included Ann Beattie and David Foster Wallace. He was celebrated for his insights and for how he expressed them, often in just a sentence or two.

More later at The Times’ Jacket Copy blog and at www.latimes.com/obits.

-- Associated Press