John Barth

John Barth, American novelist and short story writer (died 2024)

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Born: May 27, 1930
Died: April 2, 2024
Zodiac sign: Gemini
Birth year: 1930

About John Barth

John Simmons Barth was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include The Sot-Weed Factor, a whimsical retelling of Maryland's colonial history; Giles Goat-Boy, a satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the Cold War world; and Lost in the Funhouse, a self-referential and experimental collection of short stories. He was co-recipient of the National Book Award in 1973 for his episodic novel Chimera. John Simmons Barth (; May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

John Barth timeline

1930John Simmons Barth (; May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction.
1973He was co-recipient of the National Book Award in 1973 for his episodic novel Chimera.

The world when John Barth was born

John Barth was born in 1930. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1930

#1 song"Georgia on My Mind" – Hoagy Carmichael
Top movieAll Quiet on the Western Front
Best-selling bookCimarron – Edna Ferber

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentBobby Jones wins the Grand Slam of golf
Top headlineFirst FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay
Technology milestonePlanet Pluto discovered
Defining fadMiniature golf craze
Notable inventionScotch tape
World population2.07 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderHerbert Hoover
Sports championPhiladelphia Athletics (World Series)
U.S. population123.2M

1930 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in John Barth's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1930	2026
Gas	$0.20	$3.45/gal
Average home	$6,000	$435,000
Average income	$3,500	$67,500
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.02	$0.73
Population	123.2M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.