Jess Walter
Jess Walter | |
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Jess Walter in 2009 | |
Born |
Spokane, Washington, United States | July 20, 1965
Occupation | Author |
Jess Walter (born July 20, 1965[1]) is an American author of six novels, a collection of short stories, and a non-fiction book. His books have been published in twenty-six countries and translated into twenty-eight languages. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, among others, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2006.
Career
Walter has published six novels, Over Tumbled Graves, Land of the Blind, Citizen Vince, The Zero, The Financial Lives of the Poets, and Beautiful Ruins. In 2013 he published his first collection of short stories, We Live in Water. His essays and short stories have also appeared in Best American Short Stories, Best American Nonrequired Reading, McSweeny's, Esquire, Harper's, Byliner, Playboy, ESPN the Magazine, Details, and many others.[2]
Walter's latest novel, Beautiful Ruins, was a number one New York Times best seller.[3] It was also named Esquire's Book of the Year, NPR Fresh Air's Best Novel of 2012, a New York Times Notable Book, and a Washington Post Notable Book.[4] Maureen Corrigan of NPR's Fresh Air called this novel a "literary miracle" [5] and Steve Almond of The Boston Globe described it as "a novel with pathos, piercing wit, and, most important, the generous soul of a literary classic.[6]
Walter's 2009 novel The Financial Lives of the Poets was named one of the best books of the year by Time, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Believer, NPR's Fresh Air, and several others.[7] Walter also writes screenplays, and has written the screenplay for a possible film adaptation of The Financial Lives of the Poets.
His 2006 novel The Zero was a finalist for the National Book Award. In a 2006 Washington Post book review, John McNally writes that with The Zero Walter has "written a new thriller not only with a conscience but also full of dead-on insights into our culture ... and the often surreal post-9/11 world." [8]
Citizen Vince, Walter's 2005 novel, earned him the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel in 2006.[9]
Walter is also a career journalist, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe. As a reporter he covered the Randy Weaver/Ruby Ridge case for the Spokane Spokesman-Review newspaper and authored a book about the case, Every Knee Shall Bow (revised edition titled Ruby Ridge).[10] He also was the co-author with Christopher Darden of the 1996 bestseller In Contempt.
Family
Walter lives in his childhood home town of Spokane, Washington. Walter lives with his wife, Anne, and children, Brooklyn, Ava and Alec. He is an alumnus of East Valley High School (Spokane, Washington) and Eastern Washington University.
Bibliography
Novels
- Over Tumbled Graves (2001)
- The Land of the Blind (2003)
- Citizen Vince (2005)
- The Zero (2006)
- The Financial Lives of the Poets (2009)
- Beautiful Ruins (2012)
Short stories and Short Story Collections
- "Bleacher Couch Man" (2011) [included in ESPN The Magazine's Fiction Issue]
- "Big Man" (2012)
- "Wolf and the Wild" (2012)
- "Thief" (2012)
- "Love Song#79" (2012)
- Don't Eat Cat (2012)
- We Live in Water: Stories (2013)
Non-fiction
- Every Knee Shall Bow (1995) (re-released as Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family in 2002)
- In Contempt (co-authored with Christopher Darden) (1996)
Awards
- 2006 : Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel Citizen Vince
- 2006 : National Book Award Finalist for best novel The Zero
- 2006 : Finalist for Washington State Book Award in Fiction for The Zero
- 2007 : Finalist for Washington State Book Award in Fiction for Citizen Vince
- 2007 : Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award for The Zero
- 2007 : LA Times Book Prize for The Zero
- 2011 : Finalist for Washington State Book Award in Fiction for The Financial Lives of the Poets
- 2012 : New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2012 list for Beautiful Ruins
- 2013 : Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award longlist for We Live in Water: Stories
References
- ↑ Jess Walter biography (click "Meet the Writer" tab)
- ↑ http://www.jesswalter.com/bio.htm/
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/
- ↑ http://www.jesswalter.com
- ↑ http://www.npr.org/2012/06/18/155097608/beautiful-ruins-both-human-and-architectural/
- ↑ http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2012/06/09/review-beautiful-ruins-jess-walter/KZPYshTqWtiTPhuJY8rC7L/story.html/
- ↑ http://www.jesswalter.com/the_financial_lives_of_the_poets__2009__94357.htm/
- ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090701149_2.html/
- ↑ http://www.theedgars.com/
- ↑ Jess Walter, Every Knee Shall Bow, HarperCollins ReganBooks, 1995, ISBN 0-06-000794-X.
External links
- Official Jess Walter website
- Fantastic Fiction - Jess Walter
- The Bat Segundo Show (radio interviews): 2007 (40 minutes) and 2012 (50 minutes)