Christopher Bollen Explained

Birth Date:26 November 1975
Birth Place:Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Alma Mater:Columbia University (BA)
Occupation:Novelist, editor

Christopher Bollen (born November 26, 1975) is an American novelist[1] and magazine writer/editor who lives in New York City.[2]

Describing his novels, The Daily Telegraph notes that "Bollen writes expansive, psychologically probing novels in the manner of Updike, Eugenides and Franzen, but he is also an avowed disciple of Agatha Christie."[3]

Early life

Bollen grew up in Cincinnati, where he graduated from St. Xavier High School.[4] He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University in 1998.[5]

Career

Bollen was the editor-in-chief of Interview from early 2008 to mid-2009, after serving as editor-in-chief of V.[6] [7] After stepping down as editor-in-chief, he continued on as editor-at-large of Interview.[8] On May 21, 2018, the publication ceased operations completely after nearly 50 years.

Bollen also writes about art and culture at other publications like Artforum and The New York Times.

Novels

Bollen published his first novel, Lightning People, in 2011.[9] Lightning People is about downtown New York City in 2007.[10] [11]

His second novel is titled Orient, a thriller published in May 2015 by HarperCollins named after Orient, New York (the tip of the North Fork of Long Island). The Los Angeles Times writes that Orient "might well be this summer's most ambitious thriller or this summer's most thrilling work of literary fiction."[12] The Times further describes it as a "juicy mystery at the tip of Long Island at summer's end, when the season's fleeting pleasures have blown away, revealing the fractured and fractious year-round community that remains behind when the casual visitors have returned to the relative safety of New York City."

Bollen's third novel, The Destroyers, was published on June 27, 2017, by HarperCollins. It is set on the island of Patmos, Greece, where the Book of Revelation was thought to be written and was describing by the New York Times as[13] "evoking a seductive mood of longing mixed with regret." It was honoured with The Fitzgerald Award in France.[14] His fourth novel, A Beautiful Crime, was published in January 2020 by HarperCollins.[15] The novel deals with two young gay men involved in a heist in contemporary Venice, Italy.[16] It was a Best Book of the year 2020 by Oprah Magazine.[17] The novel went on to be a finalist for the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.[18]

Bollen's short story "SWAJ", a queer retelling of Peter Benchley's Jaws published in the Brooklyn Rail,[19] was selected for inclusion in 2021's The Best American Mystery and Suspense.[20]

Bollen's fifth novel, The Lost Americans was published in March 2023 by HarperCollins.[21] Set in Cairo, it deals with the mysterious death of a weapons defense contractor and his sister's attempt to solve the mystery of his murder. Bollen's portrayal of a gay Egyptian character during the current political climate received particular praise. New York Times called it "sobering, shocking," "gripping and genuinely moving.[22] The novel was a finalist for the 2024 Joseph Hansen Award for LGBTQ Crime Writing.[23]

Bollen was a jurist for the 2023 PEN/Faulker Award for Fiction, won by Yiyun Li [24]

Notes and References

  1. News: McInerney. Jay. Chris Bollen. 24 April 2012. Interview Magazine. 1 September 2011. 9 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221209083307/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/christopher-bollen. live.
  2. Web site: Pollack. Maika. Christopher Bollen. artforum.com. Artforum. 24 April 2012. 8 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180108120402/https://www.artforum.com/words/id=28982. live.
  3. News: Kerridge. Jake. Orient by Christopher Bollen, review: 'highly pleasing'. 24 July 2015. The Daily Telegraph. 14 April 2015. 26 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165315/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/11524712/Orient-by-Christopher-Bollen-review-highly-pleasing.html. live.
  4. Meet 19 Authors with Local Ties. Eileen. Bunch. Cincinnati. October 27, 2020. April 16, 2023. April 16, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230416063914/https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/meet-19-authors-with-local-ties/. live.
  5. News: Rouen. Ethan. Christopher Bollen '98's Love-Hate Letter to New York City. 24 April 2012. Columbia Today. 1 December 2011. 23 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160623012815/http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/winter11/bookshelf1. dead.
  6. News: Koblin. John. 3 March 2008. The Post-Sischy Interview. The New York Observer. 24 April 2012. 26 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165324/https://observer.com/2008/03/the-postsischy-iinterviewi/. live.
  7. News: Management Changes at Interview Magazine. 15 October 2012. The New York Times. 19 July 2009. 6 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230306145506/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/business/media/20interview.html. live.
  8. News: Rovzar. Chris. 164 Minutes With Christopher Bollen. 24 April 2012. New York Magazine. 11 September 2011. 3 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221003153512/https://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/encounter/christopher-bollen-2011-9/. live.
  9. Book: Bollen, Christopher. Lightning People. 2011. Soft Skull Press. San Francisco. 9781593764197. 368.
  10. News: Brown. Jacob. Asked & Answered: Christopher Bollen. 24 April 2012. The New York Times. 20 September 2011. 26 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165322/https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/asked-answered-christopher-bollen/. live.
  11. News: Sachs. Sam. Rootless Urban Transplants. 24 April 2012. The Wall Street Journal. 3 September 2011. 26 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165322/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904787404576528804116245500. live.
  12. News: Pochoda. Ivy. Review: Christopher Bollen's 'Orient' a literary thriller with wit and style. 24 July 2015. Los Angeles Times. 8 May 2015. 18 September 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230918151825/https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-christopher-bollen-20150510-story.html. live.
  13. News: Money, Murder and a Missing Heir in a Thriller Set in Greece. The New York Times. 18 August 2017. Ziolkowski. Thad. 26 February 2021. 25 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230425041055/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/books/review/the-destroyers-christopher-bollen.html. live.
  14. Web site: . The American Christopher Bollen Is the Laureate of the 8th Edition of the Fitzgerald Award . 8 June 2018 . 29 January 2022 . 2 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402002855/https://www.bellesrives.com/site/uploaded/documents/en_documents_fichier_60.pdf . live .
  15. Web site: A Beautiful Crime. Kirkus Reviews. 2019-12-23. 2020-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203020347/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/a-beautiful-crime/. live.
  16. Web site: Mystery/Thriller Book Review: A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen. Harper, $27.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-06-285388-2. 2019-12-23. 2020-08-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20200819005738/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-285388-2. live.
  17. Web site: These Are the Best Books of 2020, According to O, the Oprah Magazine. 19 November 2020. 26 February 2021. 27 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210127221835/https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a34659750/best-books-of-2020/. live.
  18. Web site: Here are the finalists for the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prizes - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. 2 March 2021. 2021-10-15. 2021-05-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20210522030735/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-03-02/lat-book-prizes-finalists-2020-wilkerson-emezi-et-al. live.
  19. Web site: SWAJ. Christopher. Bollen. October 6, 2020. The Brooklyn Rail. October 15, 2021. May 31, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230531200256/https://brooklynrail.org/2020/10/fiction/SWAJ. live.
  20. Web site: Excellent new 'Best American Mystery & Suspense' revives stale genre series with diverse voices. Tod. Goldberg. USA TODAY. 2022-01-29. 2022-03-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165323/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/10/12/best-american-mystery-suspense-steph-cha-modern-collection/6058638001/. live.
  21. Web site: The Lost Americans . Kirkus Reviews . 2023-03-14 . 2023-06-13 . 2023-03-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230315030056/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/the-lost-americans/ . live .
  22. Web site: A Body, a Cover-Up and a Dangerous Quest in Cairo . NY Times . 2023-03-14 . 2023-06-13 . 2023-06-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230614043855/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/books/review/christopher-bollen-lost-americans.html . live .
  23. Web site: 2024-03-18 . 2024 Publishing Triangle Awards Finalists Announced . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240428141600/https://publishingtriangle.org/2024/03/2024-publishing-triangle-awards-finalists-announced/ . 2024-04-28 . 2024-05-20 . . en-US.
  24. News: Announcing the Winner of the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction . penfaulkner.org . 2023-04-04.

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