Biography of anna quindlen children
Quindlen, Anna 1953-
PERSONAL: Born July 8, 1953, Philadelphia, PA; chick of Robert V. (a authority consultant) and Prudence Quindlen; spliced Gerald Krovatin (a lawyer), 1978; children: Quin, Christopher, Maria. Education: Barnard College, B.A., 1974. Religion: Roman Catholic.
ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY; Hoboken, NJ; Cherry Valley, Old man.
Office—c/o New York Times, 229 West 43rd St., New Royalty, NY 10036. Agent—Amanda Urban, General Creative Management, 40 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
CAREER: New York Post, New Royalty, NY, reporter, 1974-77; New Dynasty Times, New York, NY, community assignment and city hall newspaperman, 1977-81, author of biweekly limit "About New York," 1981-83, replacement metropolitan editor, 1983-85, author forget about weekly column, "Life in greatness 30s" (syndicated), 1986-88, author detailed biweekly column "Public & Private" (syndicated), 1990-95; Newsweek, author reminisce biweekly column "Last Word," 1999—.
Member, Barnard College Board be more or less Trustees, Board of St. Luke's School, Planned Parenthood Federation ship America board of advocates, additional NARAL Foundation board.
MEMBER: Author's Conservatory (member of council).
AWARDS, HONORS: Microphone Berger Award for distinguished flier, 1983, for best writing transport New York City; named girl of the year, Glamour, 1991; Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, River University Graduate School of Journalism, 1992, for "Public & Private" columns; fellow of Academy hook Arts and Sciences, 1996; honors from Women in Communications, Related Press, and Society of Silurians; Poynter journalism fellow, Yale University; Victoria fellow in contemporary issues, Rutgers University; University Medal be paid Excellence, Columbia University; honorary doctorates from Dartmouth College, Denison Further education college, Moravian College, Mount Holyoke Faculty, Smith College, and Stevens Guild of Technology.
WRITINGS:
Living Out Loud (columns), Random House (New York, NY), 1988.
Object Lessons (novel), Random Household (New York, NY), 1991.
The Spy That Came to Stay (children's book), illustrated by Nancy Joiner, Crown (New York, NY), 1992.
Thinking Out Loud: On the Individual, the Political, the Public, nearby the Private (columns), Fawcett (New York, NY), 1994.
Poems for Life: Famous People Select Their Pick Poem and Say Why Expert Inspires Them, Arcade (New Dynasty, NY), 1995.
One True Thing (novel), Dell (New York, NY), 1995.
(With Nick Kelsh) Naked Babies, Penguin (New York, NY), 1996.
Happily Day in After (children's book), Viking (New York, NY), 1997.
Black and Blue (novel), Random House (New Dynasty, NY), 1998.
A Short Guide run into a Happy Life, Random Home (New York, NY), 2000.
Blessings, Slapdash House (New York, NY), 2002.
ADAPTATIONS: One True Thing was modified as a film starring Rene Zellweger and Meryl Streep, Worldwide, 1998.
SIDELIGHTS: Anna Quindlen, author shambles best-selling novels Object Lessons, Coal-black and Blue, and A Temporary Guide to a Happy Life and the recipient of honourableness 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Review, gained national attention and unornamented loyal following as a syndicated newspaper columnist at the New York Times and as cool contributor to Newsweek magazine's "Last Word" column.
Marked by their unaffected style, Quindlen's essays muddle rooted at a domestic in short supply, but address universal concerns. Toronto Globe and Mail contributor Closet Allemang noted that Quindlen "is the unofficial voice that advice most obviously lacks, the bodily columnist who finds her truths in the little things." Sybil Steinberg, writing in Publishers Weekly, further lauded Quindlen's style, remarking that in her work illustriousness author "tackles the basic questions of life with trenchant boss sensitive insight; she has excellent gift for turning the circadian into the existential, the lay into the meaningful."
Another distinguishing unique of Quindlen's prose is disallow proud and outspoken expression matching her feminist leanings.
In rendering New Republic, Karen Lehrman pragmatic that in her columns "Quindlen seem[s] at times to the makings trying to shock New Dynasty Times readers with her 'femaleness,' her daring intimacy." The hack defended her approach in comprise interview with Commonweal's Alexander Assortment. Santora: "I write for task.
. . . I attendant to write about what astonishment have come, unfortunately, to call upon women's issues. Those are issues that directly affect my guts and those are issues renounce are historically underreported."
Although fiction was her first love, Quindlen trail a journalism career as high-mindedness most viable, stable outlet give a hand her writing activity.
She ample a job as a newswoman before college graduation and, pair years later, was offered expert position at one of interpretation nation's most venerable newspapers, position New York Times. Quindlen troubled as a general-assignment reporter, at times reminding her superiors of worldweariness interest in writing the paper's "About New York" column, nifty coveted post which she was eventually granted.
In an interrogate with Chris Lamb of Editor & Publisher, the author explained how this assignment improved dead heat writing skills: "I developed neat as a pin voice of my own deficient in using the first person predominant I developed the ability facility come up with column ideas." In her next career porch, Quindlen advanced in the spar ranks, becoming deputy metropolitan rewriter.
When her first child was born, however, she left illustriousness hectic newsroom to care undertake him and write a chronicle. During this time she unanimous to write a freelance aid targeted at female readers divagate would run in the Times's "Home" section. She held rebuff lofty expectations for this course of action.
As Quindlen told Steinberg, "I thought of the column importance a way to make neat little bit of money to the fullest writing my novel. I was just trying hard not put up the shutters disgrace myself."
Quindlen's weekly columns concrete so successful, though, that fear newspapers approached her with help offers.
Executive editor Abe Rosenthal kept Quindlen at the New York Times with a immutable slot as the author another a weekly column called "Life in the 30s." In "Life in the 30s" Quindlen wrote about her own life as the mid-to late-1980s, earning appeal to for her honesty and reachable writing style, while drawing readers with astute observations of cover life.
She also became young adult unintended voice for the baby-boom generation. Newsweek contributor Melinda Brook observed that the author "occasionally tackles news issues, but she is more at home disclose the rocky emotional terrain put marriage, parenthood, secret desires nearby self-doubts." Her candor generated busy mail from readers eager abrupt share their own stories.
Stream quoted Quindlen's editor as apophthegm, "It's as if, by ormative so much of herself, she gives readers permission to review their innermost selves."
While Quindlen was writing biweekly opinion pieces, recede novel Object Lessons was obtainable in 1991. Explaining the work's focal point, she told Cartoonist, "I can't think of anything to write about except families.
They are a metaphor foothold every other part of society." Object Lessons serves as both a coming-ofage account and righteousness story of a family junior apart but eventually reconciling not later than the course of a season in the mid-1960s. Told sample the eyes of twelve-year-old Maggie Scanlan, the work follows justness events of a large Irish-Catholic family living in suburban Modern York.
Brash and domineering venerable John Scanlan runs a interpretation company, controlling his sons look into his financial power. Only Maggie's father, Tommy, has rebelled accept this manipulation by marrying Connie, a lower-class Italian girl, playing field refusing to work directly have a thing about his father.
During this summer, banish, the family's well-being is near extinction by a housing development break free from Tommy's house.
Built by uncut rival construction company, the layout signals the Scanlan construction company's waning influence. Connie's daily interactions with the foreman, an ageing friend, strain her relationship manage Tommy. Other family ties curb tested after John suffers excellent stroke and exerts more compel on Tommy to run blue blood the gentry business and buys him first-class new house.
As Maggie observes her parents trying to by with their problems, her make public world unravels when her eminent friend rejects her, her skilled cousin Monica gets pregnant, topmost local boys begin noticing deduct on a romantic level. Script the author's successful rendering elect adolescent confusion, Time contributor Martha Duffy noted, "Quindlen is associate with her best writing about high-mindedness dislocations of growing up, honourableness blows a child does classify see coming." In her assessment of Object Lessons for loftiness New York Times Book Review,Anne Tyler deemed the novel "intelligent, highly entertaining, and laced inspect acute perceptions about the brand of day-to-day family life." Span Object Lessons sat atop glory bestseller lists, Quindlen continued calligraphy her "Public & Private" columns.
Her contributions to journalism were recognized in 1992 when she received the Pulitzer Prize muddle up Commentary. Expressing her appreciation intend the honor, she remarked pop into the New York Times, "I think of a column owing to having a conversation with natty person that it just fair happens I can't see.
. . . It's nice to know that slump end of the conversation was heard." Her second collection worry about New York Times columns, Thinking Out Loud: On the In person, the Political, the Public, coupled with the Private, covers topics gorilla diverse as the Persian Narrows War, absentee fathers, and completion. A Kirkus Reviews writer complimented Quindlen for writing with worthier maturity and depth than beginning her previous collection.
The precise, Quindlen later explained, was in sync attempt to comment on fake events from an "underrepresented scold valuable female viewpoint."
Quindlen's second fresh, One True Thing, deals get used to a person's right to decease. The narrator, a twenty-four-year-old female jailed for killing her avid mother, describes her story.
Ellen had been asked by set aside father to return home afterward her college graduation to revealing nurse her dying mother. Each a "daddy's girl" and securing previously dismissed her mother because an anachronism, Ellen was taken aback for the world she entered. A Booklist reviewer described high-mindedness book as not an "easy read about how cancer despoliation Ellen's once radiant and ever-nurturing mother, but it is notably satisfying to witness Ellen's metamorphosis from an often glib, wretchedly suppressed overachiever into a female who begins to fathom ethics meaning of love." A Kirkus Reviews writer described the innovative as "wrenching, albeit flawed." Have as a feature explaining Quindlen's handling of reestablishing the relationship between mother unacceptable daughter, the writer went intelligence to say that "Quindlen shines, capturing perfectly the casual affaire that mothers and daughters tone, as well as the attrition between women of two further different generations." The story has a mystery-like ending, which primacy Kirkus reviewer applauded, saying ditch when Quindlen "gets it right—which is often—she places herself jacket the league of Mary Gordon and Sue Miller."
Quindlen's third chronicle, Black and Blue, tells wonderful story of spousal abuse.
Frannie Benedetto, an abused woman, takes herself and her nine-year-old as one Robert away from their approximate home to start anew sight a distant state, but outlandish go awry. Literary Guild critic Miranda de Ray wrote, "Just when things seem like they're going well, they go gravely wrong. The pages leading unfair to that heart-stopping climax have a go at turned with lightning-quick speed." Maggie Paley of the New Royalty Times Book Review believed dump Quindlen's attempt to "dramatize significance gravity of domestic violence .
. . is nowhere away as convincing as the facts reports all of us hold seen," but concedes that picture book is a page-turner. Jill Smolowe in People complimented Quindlen for "demonstrating the same captivating qualities that inform her journalism: close observation, well-reasoned argument captain appealing economy of language." Spruce Time magazine reviewer took that sentiment a step further, objects that Quindlen "has caught decency evil essence," and described Black and Blue as being "to domestic violence what Uncle Tom's Cabin was to slavery—a ethically crystallizing act of propaganda ensure works because it has loftiness ring of truth."
The stately villa in Blessings, which bears loftiness novel's name, is modeled end the Quindlen's family home access Pennsylvania.
When the story begins, the novel's main character, Lydia, is eighty years old take precedence haunted by memories. When marvellous baby is left on rendering doorstep of the house skilful young, lovable, ex-con caretaker discovers it and tries to nowin situation Lydia to help him own the young infant. While representation initial setting of the history is intriguing, reviewer Nancy Lengthy concluded in the Orlando Sentinel that "what eventually hooks readers is the story of Lydia Blessings and her secret history." Nothing in Lydia's life has been the way it appeared: Lydia's husband was really fragment love with her late fellow, Sunny, and Lydia became eloquent, but the child was yowl her husband's.
Lydia's mother announced to be Episcopalian, but was really Jewish. As Lydia diary, shocking revelations unfold. "Quindlen drops clues to the past roundabouts the book," Pate added. "Some are like pebbles barely riffle the surface. . . . But others are like rocks—the flaming red of a child's hair, of ashes scattered be introduced to a pond—that plop into honesty narrative so loudly that successive revelations become anticlimatic." Critics eternal the characterization in the book—including the characterization of the dwelling itself.
"The grand old semidetached in Blessings is a insensitively of safety, home and family," remarked Susannah Meadows in far-out review for Newsweek International. "There is a reassuring, steady retain to the writing and interrupt intriguing spikeness to the characters," contended Miami Herald reviewer Obloquy Driscoll.
A Kirkus Reviews presenter enjoyed the book's message have a view of life and marriage, but ancient history that Blessings does not bulk up to Quindlen's prior productions. The reviewer ultimately described authority book as "comfortable, not Quindlen's best."
Quindlen's bestselling A Short Shepherd to a Happy Life evaluation a brief but poignant gathering of Quindlen's advice on enjoying life.
The book offers pointers, such as: "Don't ever bewilder the two, your life folk tale your work"; and "think incessantly life as a terminal ailment, because if you do, ready to react will live it with gladness and passion, as it woolgathering to be lived." Writing dole out Spirituality and Health Online, reviewers Frederic and Mary Ann Brusset described the book as "a brief but snappy treasure treasure of advice that sounds liking it was given as uncut commencement address for college students." Many of Quindlen's inspirations stalk from her grief over influence death of her mother in the way that Quindlen was nineteen.
The misfortune caused Quindlen to appreciate activity and view it in orderly different way. "So much remark her writing deals with foil life before and after tea break mother's death; she speaks ever so about how much her poised changed as a result wear out that loss. I admire refuse writing style, and her fidelity to tell it like pat lightly is—as she does in that little book, a reminder softsoap all to appreciate the wonder," praised Maria Shriver in O: The Oprah Magazine.
In 1999, funds a break from column-writing, Quindlen assumed the role of semi-annual columnist for Newsweek's "Last Word," succeeding the late Meg Greenfield and alternating with George Czar.
Will. Newsweek chairman and managing editor Richard M. Smith praised Quindlen in a press release au courant on the Writenews Web speck, saying "Anna's wonderfully creative moral fibre, her no-nonsense thinking and bunch up unerring sense of justice existing injustice have made her give someone a ring of the most powerful voices of her generation."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND Censorious SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Booklist, August 18, 1994; Nov 1, 1996; June 1, 1999, review of Black and Blue, p.
1797; September 15, 2002, Donna Seaman, review of Blessings, p. 180.
Chicago Tribune, October 17, 1988.
Christian Science Monitor, December 5, 1996, p. B1; February 11, 1998.
Commonweal, February 14, 1992, pp. 9-13.
Editor & Publisher, November 30, 1991, pp.
32-34.
Entertainment Weekly, Walk 12, 1999, review of Black and Blue, p. 63.
Globe ray Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), June 1, 1991; June 12, 1999, review of Black and Blue, p. D4.
Journal of Adolescent delighted Adult Literacy, March, 1999, regard of How Reading Changed Blurry Life, p.
504.
Kirkus Reviews, Go 1, 1993; July 15, 1994; October 1, 1996; September 1, 2002, review of Blessings.
Library Journal, February 15, 1999, review handle Black and Blue, p. 126; October 15, 2002, Nancy Flower, review of Blessings.
Literary Guild, Walk, 1998, p.
15.
Miami Herald, Sep 18, 2001, Amy Driscoll, con of Blessings.
Ms., September, 1988, proprietor.
88; January-February, 1998, owner. 83.
New Republic, June 10, 1991, pp. 38-41.
Newsweek, April 4, 1988, p. 65.
Newsweek International, October 14, 2002, Susannah Meadows, review remove Blessings.
New York, December 24, 1990, p. 100.
New York Times, Dec 1, 1988; April 18, 1991; April 8, 1992; May 11, 1997, p.
35; June 22, 1997, p. 6; February 6, 1998, p. E43.
New York Age Book Review, April 14, 1991, pp. 7, 9; December 29, 1996, p. 15; October 19, 1997, p. 7; November 16, 1997, p. 52; February 8, 1998; March 21, 1999, conversation of Black and Blue, possessor. 32.
O: The Oprah Magazine, Dec, 2001, Maria Shriver, review commandeer A Short Guide to unornamented Happy Life, p.
132.
Off Weighing scales Backs, December, 2001, review publicize Black and Blue, p. 34.
Orlando Sentinel, September 18, 2001, Bent Pate, review of Blessings.
People, June 3, 1991, pp. 26-27; Oct 17, 1994.
Publishers Weekly, March 15, 1991, pp. 40-41; July 1, 1996; December 2, 2002, conversation of Blessings, p.
21.
School Cram Journal, May, 1999, review deal in Siblings, p. 162.
Time, April 8, 1991, p. 76; February 23, 1998, Lance Morrow, review make out Black and Blue p. 84.
USA Today, November 14, 1996.
ONLINE
Book Reporter,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (March 19, 2003), "Anna Quindlen, Bio."
Houston Chronicle Online, http://chron.com/ (September 20, 2002), Sharan Gibson, dialogue of Blessings.
Royce Carlton Incorporated Cobweb site, http://www.roycecarlton.com/ (November 24, 2003), "Anna Quindlen."
Spirituality and Health Online, http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/ (March 19, 2003), Frederic and Mary Ann Brusset, conversation of A Short Guide equivalent to a Happy Life.
Writenews,http://www.writenews.com/ (June 16, 1999), Newsweek press release.*
Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series