Anthony Giardina
Encyclopedia
Anthony Giardina is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and playwright
. Anthony Giardina started his professional career as an actor. He switched to playwriting, and eventually began writing novels.
His work is particularly influenced by American culture in the 1950s. He was born in 1950 and grew up on a street in Waltham, Massachusetts, a largely Italian and Irish working class "sleeper" suburb of Boston on the trolley line to Cambridge. The protagonist's childhood neighborhood and schools in "Recent History" were largely modeled on Waltham.
According to the author, Recent History was marketed toward the "gay
market". Though Giardina himself is not gay, he possesses a remarkable ability to express the internal dialogue and emotional motivations of a diverse range of characters.
, GQ, Esquire
, and Harper's. His books include Men With Debts, A Boy's Pretensions, Recent History and The Country of Marriage.
His most recent novel, White Guys, was released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
on May 2, 2006.
, the niversity of Rochester] the University of Massachusetts
, Amherst, the University of Texas, Giardina currently teaches at Smith College
.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. Anthony Giardina started his professional career as an actor. He switched to playwriting, and eventually began writing novels.
His work is particularly influenced by American culture in the 1950s. He was born in 1950 and grew up on a street in Waltham, Massachusetts, a largely Italian and Irish working class "sleeper" suburb of Boston on the trolley line to Cambridge. The protagonist's childhood neighborhood and schools in "Recent History" were largely modeled on Waltham.
According to the author, Recent History was marketed toward the "gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
market". Though Giardina himself is not gay, he possesses a remarkable ability to express the internal dialogue and emotional motivations of a diverse range of characters.
Career
Giardina's plays have been produced in New Haven, New York City, and Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to publications such as The New York Times MagazineThe New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
, GQ, Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, and Harper's. His books include Men With Debts, A Boy's Pretensions, Recent History and The Country of Marriage.
His most recent novel, White Guys, was released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...
on May 2, 2006.
Teaching
He has held teaching positions at Mount Holyoke CollegeMount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, the niversity of Rochester] the University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
, Amherst, the University of Texas, Giardina currently teaches at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
Quote
Anthony Giardina on writing: "When I write fiction, I become the character I'm writing about, just as an actor becomes a character he's playing. You use parts of yourself, people you have known, things that have happened to you, but you're always aware that these things are being used to create a persona that's distinctly not you. Otherwise it wouldn't be any fun."See also
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External links
- Anthony Giardina's Official Website
- Anthony Giardina's Random House Page
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/20/RV34782.DTLAnthony Giardina's Review of Haunting Midnight (published in the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
)] - Review of Recent History in the Austin Chronicle of Books by Amanda Eyre Ward
- http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=1&res=9903E0DF1338F932A15756C0A964948260&oref=sloginReview of Giardina play in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
by Frank RichFrank RichFrank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
] - Review of White Guys in the San Francisco Chronicle by Mario Bruzzone
- Anthony Giardina Papers