Porter Shreve
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Porter Shreve is an American author and professor of English and Creative Writing. He is the son of writer
Susan Shreve Susan Shreve (also known as Susan Richards Shreve) is an American novelist, memoirist, and children's book author. She has published fifteen novels, most recently ''More News Tomorrow'' (2019), and a memoir ''Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood ...
.


Life

He graduated from the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
Creative Writing MFA Program in 1998, where he studied with Charles Baxter and
Lorrie Moore Lorrie Moore (born Marie Lorena Moore; January 13, 1957) is an American writer, critic, and essayist. She is best known for her short stories, some of which have won major awards. Since 1984, she has also taught creative writing. Biography Mar ...
. He has taught at several American universities, including the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
, the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...
,
Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
, the
University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...
, and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
, where he is Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing. Shreve married fellow writer Beth Nguyen (then Bich Minh Nguyen) in 2002. Nguyen stated she was divorced in 2023.


Career

Shreve's first novel, ''The Obituary Writer,'' about a young journalist in 1989 St. Louis who gets in over his head when a young widow asks him to pursue her story, was a 2000 ''
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 ...
'' Notable Book, a Book Sense Pick, and a Borders Original Voices selection. The ''New York Times'' called the novel "an involving and sneakily touching story whose twists feel less like the conventions of a genre than the convolutions of a heart—any heart." Shreve's second novel, ''Drives Like a Dream,'' about an empty nest mother in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
who hatches a scheme to lure her far-flung children home, was a 2005 ''Chicago Tribune'' Book of the Year, a ''People'' "Great Reads" Selection and a Britannica Book of the Year. The ''Washington Post'' called ''Drives Like a Dream'' “a beautiful novel, carefully put together, full of charming secondary characters, charitable to all.” Shreve's third novel, ''When the White House Was Ours,'' was published during the 2008 presidential campaign and touches upon previous election years, including 2000 and 1976. The Washington Post wrote, "Coming-of-age tales that hark back to lovable, quaint times all too often cover the landscape and the characters with a thick dusting of powdered sugar. But Shreve avoids sentimental sludge with the masterly voice of Daniel, the anxious boy historian who tries to keep order in his fractured life by soberly documenting it, zany detail by zany detail. As we recover from our own sugar high of the 2008 election, 'When the White House Was Ours' offers a perfect antidote. Turn off the TV pundits, turn down the thermostat, and slip on a comfy cardigan." Shreve's fourth novel, ''The End of the Book,'' was published in 2014 and named a San Francisco Chronicle Book of the Year. It is the story of an aspiring contemporary novelist who is writing a sequel to a forgotten classic, Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and goes back and forth in time between turn of the century and present day Chicago. The Washington Post wrote, "Anderson’s classic is the linchpin holding together the two halves of Porter Shreve’s excellent new novel, The End of the Book. Winesburg, Ohio was recognized in its day as a piercing work of literature, and The End of the Book warrants the same. This is entertaining, insightful fiction, more proof that it’s not over yet." Shreve has also co-edited three essay anthologies with his mother
Susan Shreve Susan Shreve (also known as Susan Richards Shreve) is an American novelist, memoirist, and children's book author. She has published fifteen novels, most recently ''More News Tomorrow'' (2019), and a memoir ''Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood ...
: ''Outside the Law''; ''How We Want to Live''; and ''Tales Out of School''; and three textbook anthologies with Bich Minh Nguyen.


Bibliography


Novels

*''The Obituary Writer'' (2000) *''Drives Like a Dream'' (2005) *''When the White House Was Ours'' (2008) *''The End of the Book'' (2014)


Anthologies

*''Outside the Law: Narratives on Justice in America'' (1997) *''How We Want to Live'' (1998) *''Tales Out of School: Contemporary Writers on Their Student Years'' (2000) *''The Contemporary American Short Story'' (2003) *''Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: I & Eye'' (2004) *''30/30: Thirty American Stories from the Last Thirty Years'' (2005)


References


External links


Porter Shreve Website
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121105084712/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5699-2005Mar3.html/ ''Washington Post'' review of ''Drives Like a Dream''br>Houghton Mifflin page for ''When the White House Was Ours''
*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-end-of-the-book-by-porter-shreve-literary-ambition-in-two-chicago-eras/2014/03/28/866dde9a-b3c2-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html ''Washington Post'' review of "The End of the Book"] {{DEFAULTSORT:Shreve, Porter 1966 births 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American book editors Novelists from Washington, D.C. Novelists from Illinois Writers from California Writers from Wisconsin University of Michigan alumni American University alumni Living people 21st-century American male writers