Christopher Sorrentino (born May 20, 1963) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer of Italian and Puerto Rican descent. He is the son of novelist

Gilbert Sorrentino Gilbert Sorrentino (April 27, 1929 – May 18, 2006) was an American novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, professor, and editor. In over twenty-five works of fiction and poetry, Sorrentino explored the comic and formal possibili ...

and Victoria Ortiz. His first published novel, ''Sound on Sound'' (1995), draws upon innovations pioneered in the work of his father, but also contains echoes of many other modernist and postmodernist writers. The book is structured according to the format of a multitrack recording session, with corresponding section titles ("Secondary Percussion", "Vocals", "Playback", and so forth). His second novel, ''Trance'' (2005), an epic fictional treatment of the

Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is an American actress and member of the Hearst family. She is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 197 ...

saga, used many of the same experimental techniques as ''Sound on Sound'', but, according to Sorrentino, incorporated them more carefully and subtly into the text. The book was widely praised for its lush descriptions, riveting characterizations and dialogue, imaginative departures, and attention to period detail. ''Trance'' ended up on several reviewers' "best" lists, was named a finalist for the 2005

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...

, and was longlisted for the 2007

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

. In 2009, ''Trance'' was named one of the "61 Essential Postmodern Reads" by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. In 2006 ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' magazine revealed that Sorrentino and

Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His Debut novel, first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, ...

were the writers behind the pseudonymous Ivan Felt and Harris Conklin, authors of '' Believeniks!: 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book About the Mets'', a "hyperliterary account of the Mets’ 2005 season" that was intended as "a playful poke at book-world scams." Sorrentino's next book, ''American Tempura'', a collaboration with artist

Derek Boshier Derek Boshier (19 June 1937 – 5 September 2024) was an English artist, among the first proponents of British pop art. Greene, Alison de Lima (2000). Texas: 150 Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. New ...

, was published by Nothing Moments Press in the fall of 2007. A novella, ''American Tempura'' is a satire about commercial moviemaking in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. ''Death Wish'', a monograph on the 1974 film of the same name, was published in the fall of 2010 by

Soft Skull Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company that Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Shoemaker & Hoard, and Soft Skull Press. The company published books under b ...

as one of the inaugural entries in its ''Deep Focus'' series of film books. In April 2014 it was announced that Sorrentino would publish his next novel, ''The Fugitives'', with

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. The novel, published in February 2016, deals with the existential crisis of a blocked writer who becomes entangled with a Native American imposter involved in a casino theft and the reporter sent to investigate the crime. The novel is related by several

unreliable narrator In literature, film, and other such arts, an unreliable narrator is a narrator who cannot be trusted, one whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in a wide range from children to mature characters. While unreliable narrators are al ...

s and is concerned with questions of identity, racial passing, and the nature of storytelling. Writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Dwight Garner criticized its blending of genres as "something close to a disaster," but

Viet Thanh Nguyen Viet Thanh Nguyen (; born March 13, 1971) is a South Vietnamese-born American professor and novelist. He is the Aerol Arnold Chair of English and Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California ...

, in ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', called it an "elegantly constructed novel" and cautioned that "Sorrentino's novel might be a little deceptive because it disguises its complexity," while Jim Ruland in the ''

'' described ''The Fugitives'' as "stunning" and "an entirely new kind of novel." ''Now Beacon, Now Sea'' was published by Catapult in September 2021. A memoir, it traces Sorrentino's difficult relationship with his mother, Victoria. Writing in ''

'', Eleanor Henderson described it as "Acute, intimate and exceedingly fair... may have a greater cultural appetite for eulogies, but an autopsy, in looking directly at the cold corpse of a family in all its gruesomeness and mystery, can be just as profound, and in the hands of a writer as restrained and humane as Sorrentino, just as beautiful." It was named a ''New York Times'' Notable Book for 2021. In 2022, Sorrentino was awarded a fellowship by the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

. Sorrentino's work has appeared in such publications as ''

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'', ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'', ''

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSw ...

'', ''

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

'', ''

Open City In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open, the opposing military will ...

'', ''

Bookforum ''Bookforum'' is an American book review magazine devoted to books and the discussion of literature. After announcing that it would cease publication in December 2022, it reported its relaunch under the direction of ''The Nation'' magazine six mo ...

'', '' Conjunctions'', and many others. Sorrentino has taught at

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, commonly referred to as Lang, is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School. It is located on-campus in Greenwich Village in New York City on West 11th Street off 6th Avenue. ...

and at

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York (state), New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, ...

, and is a member of the faculty at the Unterberg Poetry Center of the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the You ...

. He was the visiting writer at

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University () is a private university with its main campuses in New Jersey, located in Madison / Florham Park and in Teaneck / Hackensack. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University offers more than 100 degree prog ...

in 2010–2011. He currently lives in New York City with his partner, the writer and editor Minna Proctor, and their children.

Works

Fiction * ''Sound on Sound'' (1995) * ''Trance'' (2005) * ''Believeniks!: 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book About the Mets'' (2006), with

(as "Ivan Felt" and "Harris Conklin") * ''American Tempura'' (2007) * ''The Fugitives'' (2016) Nonfiction * ''Death Wish'' (2010) * ''Now Beacon, Now Sea'' (2021) Contributions to Books and Anthologies * "The Pride of Life," ''They’re at It Again: An Open City Reader'', edited by Thomas Beller and Joanna Yas, New York: Open City Books, 2011 * "Death in the Age of Digital Proliferation, and Other Considerations," ''The Inevitable: Contemporary Writers Confront Death'', Ed. David Shields and Bradford Morrow, New York: WW Norton, 2011 * "When He Was Seventeen," ''More New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of'' The New York Times, Ed. Constance Rosenblum, New York: NYU Press, 2010 * "Dave Kingman," ''Top of the Order: 25 Writers Pick Their Favorite Baseball Player'', Ed. Sean Manning, New York: Da Capo, 2010 * Introduction to The Abyss of Human Illusion, by Gilbert Sorrentino, Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2010 * "Misapprehensions," ''A Best of Fence: The First Nine Years'', Ed. Rebecca Wolff, Albany, NY: Fence Books, 2009 * "Julie Halo," ''New Standards'', Ed. Jason Snyder, San Francisco: Fourteen Hills Press, 2005 * "Organism," ''The Future Dictionary of America,'' Ed. Jonathan Safran Foer, Dave Eggers, and Nicole Krauss, San Francisco: McSweeney's Books, 2004 * "The Ger Sheker," ''Give Our Regards to the Atomsmashers: Writers on Comics'', ed. Sean Howe, New York: Pantheon Books, 2004

External links

Author WebsiteInterview with Donald Breckenridge
(

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

), 2016
Podcast Interview with Michael Silverblatt (KCRW), 2016Christopher Sorrentino by Dana Spiotta
''

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

'', 2016
Interview with Glenn Kenny (Some Came Running) 2011Interviewed with Jonathan Lethem by Clark Collis (EW.com) 2010Interview with J.D. Mitchell (The Paris Review) 2010Interview with Alex Abramovich (Stop Smiling) 2007
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060626144241/http://www.bookmunch.co.uk/view.php?id=1621 Interview with Peter Wild (Bookmunch) 2005br>Podcast Interview with Lorin Stein (Holtzbrinck) 2006 Interview with Christopher Stapleton (Stop Smiling magazine) 2006 Podcast Interview with Chris Hager (WNUR) 2006Podcast Interview with Michael Silverblatt (KCRW) 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorrentino, Christopher 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Writers from New York City 1963 births Living people American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state)