Mischa Berlinski Explained

Mischa Berlinski (born 1973 in New York, United States) is an American author. His first novel, Fieldwork, was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award. In 2008 Berlinski won a $50,000 Whiting Award, given to writers showing early promise in their careers.^[1]

Life

Berlinski is the son of author and academic David Berlinski and cellist Toby Saks,^[2] the grandson of composer and musicologist Herman Berlinski, and the brother of journalist Claire Berlinski.

Berlinski is a UC Berkeley graduate, and has worked as a journalist in Thailand.^{[3] [4]}

Awards

• 2007 National Book Award Fiction Finalist
• 2008 Whiting Award
• 2013 American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Addison M. Metcalf Award^[5]

Works

Books

• Fieldwork, (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 2007
• Peacekeeping: A Novel, Sarah Crichton Books, 2016

Articles

• November 2007 . Woman Marries Snake . Harper's .
• September 2009 . Into the Zombie Underworld . Men's Journal . (Reprinted online by Epic Magazine)

Reviews

Stephen King reviewed Fieldwork for Entertainment Weekly. While King lauds the novel's complexity, "narrative voice full of humor and sadness," and suspense, he criticizes the book's publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for poor marketing choices:^[6]

King's review resulted in increased sales of Fieldwork.^[7] When Berlinski won the Whiting Award, he attributed it to his "luck" that "Stephen King, the most famous writer in the world, picked up my book because he didn't like the cover."^[8]

In 2007, The New York Review of Books published a positive review of Fieldwork from Hilary Mantel:^[9]

External links

• Fieldwork Website
• Profile at The Whiting Foundation
• "2007 National Book Award Fiction Finalist Interview With Mischa Berlinski"
• Port-au-Prince: The Moment by Mischa Berlinski from The New York Review of Books

Notes and References

1. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-31-et-whiting31-story.html "Novelist Mischa Berlinski is among Whiting award winners"
2. Web site: Claire Berlinski. 16 June 2012.
3. Web site: FIELDWORK: A Novel | Mischa Berlinski . Berlinski.com . 2015-03-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161006221215/http://www.berlinski.com/mischa/author/ . 2016-10-06 . dead .
4. [Tim Rutten]
5. Web site: American Academy of Arts and Letters - Literature Awards Press Release . Artsandletters.org . 2013-03-13 . 2015-03-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150313042256/http://www.artsandletters.org/press_releases/2013literature.php . 2015-03-13 .
6. [Stephen King]
7. Web site: Oxford/Oxford Twp. News | www.journal-news.com . Oxfordpress.com . 2015-03-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120407040527/http://www.oxfordpress.com/l/content/oh/story/living/2007/04/06/ddn040707lifeseen.html . 2012-04-07 . dead.
8. Jocelyn McClurg and Bob Minzesheimer, "Book Buzz: Marriage, sickness and luck", USA Today, October 29, 2008.
9. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=20392