The Disappointment Artist by Jonathan Lethem

(posted for Abby)

I read The Disappointment Artist, by Jonathan Lethem. This book is a collection of creative nonfiction essays, particularly about Lethem's youth and strong influences on his life, such as his parents. Even as a teenager, he was very attentive to social and cultural themes, as well as the New York art scene. While reading his essays, I could tell he was very intelligent. He has a special place in his heart for his mother and his parents’ hippy ways, and isn’t afraid to reveal his innermost thoughts with his audience. He writes about various topics, such seeing Star Wars over twenty times, to the subway station he used to wait in as a kid, to the sci-fi novels he threw himself into. He talks about his obsessions, his successes, and his failures, which ultimately make the collection a bittersweet reading experience.

About the author Jonathan Lethem (writing career 1989-?):

-has written 7 books, first published novel: 1994.

-has written 4 collections, first published collection: 1996.

-has written 4 "other books," (novellas, etc.) first published "other book:" 2000

-has written over a hundred essays + reviews + short stories

-has edited 5 books and written about 20 introductions

-born in Brooklyn, NY and trained to become an artist (like father), mother was politically leftist and parents held an open marriage, which greatly affected him, so did their bohemian lifestyle--the eventual death of his mother haunts his writing today

-attended the High School of Music & Art to be an artist-went to Bennington College in Vermont (1982) as a prospective art student, dropped out halfway through sophomore year

-from there, he hitchhiked from Denver to California, then worked as a clerk in used bookstores for twelve years, writing on his own time

-(1999) first mainstream novel, Motherless Brooklyn, earned a National Book Critics Circle Award

-(2003) The Fortress of Solitude became a New York Best Seller

- Links:
http://www.jonathanlethem.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lethem