Friday, July 12, 2013

Elizabeth L. Silver

Elizabeth L. Silver grew up in New Orleans and Dallas and currently lives in Los Angeles. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in England, and a JD from Temple University Beasley School of Law. She has taught ESL in Costa Rica, writing and literature at several universities in Philadelphia, and worked as a research attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Silver's new novel is The Execution of Noa P. Singleton.

A few weeks ago I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:
Although I finished it a while back, I can’t help but gush about The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud. Admittedly, I have a literary crush on her and have since The Emperor’s Children, but her new novel has not only captured an even wider audience, but it has initiated (or, as some others would argue, continued) a necessary dialogue regarding the likeability of characters – specifically the likeability of female characters, which is a conversation I think is essential. If people are reading The Woman Upstairs because of this debate or because it’s a brilliant novel, that is fine. The novel is twisty and exquisitely written, and dives into a tortured artistic soul with honesty and wit so ferociously that I could not recommend it highly enough.

I’m also reading The Son by Philipp Meyer, a sprawling, gorgeous epic of Texas history, gluttony of wealth, and frontier conflict. I’ve long been a fan of Meyer’s following his sharp debut with American Rust, and as someone who lived in Texas for many years, I was drawn to the novel not only because of its topic, but also because of Meyer’s intense and widely publicized research on frontier life and hunting. (Evidently, he learned to hunt and drank buffalo blood as part of this research).

On my nightstand queue is Transatlantic by Colum McCann and I always have an audiobook on hand. I live in Los Angeles and am in the car far more than I desire, and the only way I can survive is by listening to a great book along the way. I’m going through older books at the moment—ones that I’d read in paper form, but want to revisit (something I do rarely). Right now, I’ve got Geek Love by Katherine Dunn waiting for me when I get back to my car. The engine’s running now. I should probably go out there and hit “play” now.
Visit Elizabeth L. Silver's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Execution of Noa P. Singleton.

My Book, The Movie: The Execution of Noa P. Singleton.

--Marshal Zeringue