Afbeelding van de auteur.

Alice McDermott

Auteur van Charming Billy

16+ Werken 7,339 Leden 256 Besprekingen Favoriet van 21 leden

Over de Auteur

Alice McDermott was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 27, 1953. She received a B.A. from the State University of New York at Oswego in 1975 and an M.A. from the University of New Hampshire in 1978. After graduating college, she got a job reading unsolicited manuscripts for Redbook magazine and did toon meer some freelance reading for Esquire. She has taught writing at American University, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of California at San Diego. Currently, she is the Writing Seminars Professor of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Department. Her short stories and articles have appeared in numerous publications including Ms., Redbook, Mademoiselle, The New Yorker, Seventeen, the New York Times and the Washington Post. She has written several novels including A Bigamist's Daughter, At Weddings and Wakes, Child of My Heart, After This, Someone, and The Ninth Hour. That Night was made into a film starring C. Thomas Howell and Juliette Lewis in 1992. She has won several awards including the National Book Award for fiction in 1998 for Charming Billy, a Whiting Writers Award, and the 2008 Corrington Award for Literature. (Bowker Author Biography) toon minder

Werken van Alice McDermott

Charming Billy (1998) 2,346 exemplaren
Someone (2013) 996 exemplaren
Child of My Heart (2002) 848 exemplaren
The Ninth Hour (2017) 829 exemplaren
After This (2006) 808 exemplaren
Alledag (1992) 550 exemplaren
Die avond (1987) 430 exemplaren
Absolution (2023) 280 exemplaren
A Bigamist's Daughter (1982) 202 exemplaren
Enough [short story] — Auteur — 1 exemplaar
Jamais assez (2020) 1 exemplaar
Post 1 exemplaar

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Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink (2007) — Medewerker — 535 exemplaren
The Best American Short Stories 2022 (2022) — Medewerker — 89 exemplaren
Readings on West Side Story (2001) — Medewerker — 6 exemplaren

Tagged

Algemene kennis

Gangbare naam
McDermott, Alice
Geboortedatum
1953-06-27
Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
USA
Geboorteplaats
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Woonplaatsen
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Opleiding
St. Boniface School, Elmont, Long Island, New York, USA (1967)
Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead New York, USA (1971)
State University of New York, Oswego (BA|1975)
University of New Hampshire (MA | 1978)
Beroepen
novelist
professor
Relaties
Turco, Lewis (teacher)
Organisaties
University of California, San Diego
American University
Prijzen en onderscheidingen
Whiting Writers' Award (1987)
F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Fiction (2010)
Agent
Harriet Wasserman (Harriet Wasserman Literary Agency)
Korte biografie
McDermott was born in Brooklyn, New York. She attended St. Boniface School in Elmont, New York, on Long Island (1967), Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead (1971), and the State University of New York at Oswego, receiving her BA in 1975, and received her MA from the University of New Hampshire in 1978.

She has taught at UCSD and American University, has been a writer-in-residence at Lynchburg College and Hollins College in Virginia, and was lecturer in English at the University of New Hampshire. Her short stories have appeared in Ms., Redbook, Mademoiselle, The New Yorker and Seventeen. She has also published articles in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Ms. McDermott lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband, a neuroscientist, and three children. She is Catholic, though she once deemed herself "not a very good Catholic

Leden

Discussies

Besprekingen

Tricia is a young wife who accompanied her husband to Saigon. It's 1963, and the expat life of garden parties, evening drinks and children attending the international school while living in lavish homes cared for by local help is still normal. Tricia, by nature a good girl who grew up working class Catholic in Yonkers, is ready to do her part to help her husband's career. She's naturally shy, but keenly observant and she falls in easily with Charlene, a woman with goals and plans and the forceful nature needed to carry them out. She's quickly co-opted into Charlene's work, at first bringing toys to hospitalized children (and cigarettes to their parents), then into a plan that involves trips out to a leper colony. But the war is becoming something that can't be ignored and Tricia is forced into looking at how the very best of intentions can do harm.

The novel takes the form of letters written between Tricia and Charlene's daughter, in which Tricia explains how people thought and acted in that time and place, through the lens of what we now know. It's a balancing act, to tell the story of a woman in 1963, through her eyes then and now and McDermott is able to make that work. Charlene's actions, and therefore many of Tricia's were what we would look at now with a critical eye, as does the present day Tricia, looking closely at how what they were doing was just feel-good work for a large part, but also work that sometimes did real good and sometimes real harm. McDermott's characters seem fairly simple on the surface, but there's a lot of complexity under the surface. I will be thinking about the characters and the choices they made for some time. I recommend going into this book knowing as little as possible about it ahead of time.
… (meer)
½
 
Gemarkeerd
RidgewayGirl | 13 andere besprekingen | Mar 1, 2024 |
" Alice McDermott has always been on of our greatest writers, but here she exceeds every expectation. Absolution is one of the finest contemporary novels I've read. It is a moral masterpiece." Ann Patchett,
 
Gemarkeerd
MBPortlandLibrary | 13 andere besprekingen | Feb 15, 2024 |
In the sixteen short pieces collected here, Alice McDermott touches upon a variety of themes relevant to the writing life. Or, more simply, life. Not strictly a self-help book for writers, it nevertheless reveals numerous lessons she has learned both as an accomplished novelist and as a teacher of would-be novelists.

She writes in an engaging fashion that is always readable, full of insight and wit. And in passing it is often highly illuminating. I especially liked the essays, “What About the Baby?,” and “Only Connect (Eventually)”.

Gently recommended for the would-be novelist in all of us.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
RandyMetcalfe | 3 andere besprekingen | Jan 28, 2024 |
After reading The Ninth Hour and Someone, and giving them 4.5 stars and 4 stars respectively, I was disappointed in Absolution. Though it takes place in Vietnam in 1963, this is not a story of war, but rather one of friendship between Tricia and Charlene . Tricia is a shy, newlywed who accompanies her husband to Saigon, Charlene is outgoing, has three children and has been married for some years. The two meet in Saigon, and Charlene takes Tricia under her wing. While Charlene is a friend, she is also manipulative and cunning. The two try to do charitable work for those native to Saigon. There are tender moments, and some less so. The ending was abrupt, and I was left feeling let down. Nonetheless, I will look forward to more of the author's books.… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
vancouverdeb | 13 andere besprekingen | Jan 25, 2024 |

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Statistieken

Werken
16
Ook door
5
Leden
7,339
Populariteit
#3,331
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
256
ISBNs
196
Talen
7
Favoriet
21

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