Alice McDermott was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1953. Her first
novel, A Bigamists' Daughter, was published to wide acclaim in 1982.
That Night (1987), her second novel, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize,
the National Book Award, and for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In his
cover review for The New York Times Book Review, David Leavitt called
That Night "an original, a work that revels in a rich, discursive prose
style that belongs entirely to Alice McDermott." A film version of That Night
was produced by Warner Bros. and released in the spring of 1992. At Weddings
and Wakes (1992), her third novel, became a New York Times
bestseller. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times praised McDermott's
"rich, supple prose" and Bruce Bawer called At Weddings and Wakes "a
haunting and masterly work of literary art" in his review for The Wall Street
Journal.
Charming Billy (1998), won the National Book Award. It tells the tragic
story of the late Billy Lynch within the complex matrix of a tightly knit Irish
American community. The New York Times Book Review praised the book as
"eloquent" and "heartbreaking," and Kirkus Reviews called it "a softly
resonant and nostalgic tale told masterfully. . ."
Ms. McDermott received her B.A. in 1975 from the State University of New York at
Oswego, and her M.A. in 1978 from the University of New Hampshire. She has
taught at the University of California at San Diego and American University, has
been a writer-in-residence at Lynchburg and Hollins Colleges in Virginia, and
was lecturer in English at the University of New Hampshire. Her short stories
have appeared in Ms., Redbook, Mademoiselle, and
Seventeen.
The recipient of a Whiting Writers Award, Ms. McDermott is currently
writer-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She lives outside
Washington, with her husband, a neuroscientist, and three children.
Bibliography A Bigamist's Daughter (1982) That Night (1987) At Weddings and Wakes (1992) Charming Billy (1998) Child of My Heart (2002) After This (2006)
This biography was last updated on 10/16/2006.
A note about the biographies
We try to keep BookBrowse's biographies both up to date and accurate. However, with over 1,500 lives to keep track of it's inevitable that
some won't be as current or as complete as we would like. So, please help us - if the information about a particular author is out of date,
inaccurate or simply very short, and you know of a more complete source, please let us know. Authors and those connected with authors:
If you wish to make changes to your bio, please send your complete biography as you would like it displayed so that we replace the old with the new.
One of the most celebrated writers of our time gives us his first cycle of short fiction: five brilliantly etched, interconnected stories in which music is a vivid and essential character.
In her most accomplished novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their...
The acclaimed author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude returns with a roar with this gorgeous, searing portrayal of Manhattanites wrapped in their own delusions, desires, and lies.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author— "an immensely gifted writer and a magical prose stylist" (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times)—offers his first major work of nonfiction, an autobiographical narrative as inventive, beautiful, and powerful as his acclaimed, award-winning fiction.
Like Robin Hood, Zorro is a story that almost everyone knows, but few have read. The original book by Johnston McCulley is out of print and ...
read more
I'm 13 years old and my teacher handed me this book and told me to read and do a report on it. I looked at the cover, saw the title (which made no ...
read more
I'm 13 years old and my teacher handed me this book and told me to read and do a report on it. I looked at the cover, saw the title (which made no ...
read more
The 2009 National Book Award Winners(Nov 19 2009) The winners of the 2009 National Book Awards have been announced at the National Book Foundation's 60th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit...
Full Story
Google Settlement Filed(Nov 13 2009) After two delays, attorneys for the AAP, Authors Guild and Google filed an amended settlement agreement today in an effort to end litigation brought by the...
Full Story
Become a member!
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends only the most interesting and well written books and provides you with everything you need to decide which are
right for you - so you can browse the best and ignore the rest.
One Month Free Trial
RSS feed
