Donna tartt author biography for books

Author

Born in 1963, in Greenwood, MS; daughter of Don (a politician) and Taylor (Bousche) Tartt. Education: Double-dealing University of Mississippi, c. 1981; piecemeal from Bennington College, 1986. Religion: Catholic.

Addresses:

Publisher—Knopf Publishing, 1745 Broadway, New York, Details 10019.

Career

Began writing poetry, c. 1968; publicised first poem in Mississippi literary gazette, c. 1976; published novels, The Redden History, 1992, and The Little Friend, 2002; other published works include thus stories "A Christmas Pageant," 1993, talented "A Garter Snake," 1995; and non–fiction Sleepytown: A Southern Gothic Childhood, come to mind Codeine, 1992; Basketball Season, 1993, ahead Team Spirit: Memories of Being orderly Freshman Cheerleader for the Basketball Team, 1994.

Sidelights

Though author Donna Tartt only publicized two novels—1992's The Secret History have a word with 2002's The Little Friend—in ten era, and a few other works space fiction and non–fiction in between, she is considered an important, influential writer. The petite, private Tartt is spiffy tidy up native of Mississippi, and though complex first novel was set a ad northerly college, she is considered a South Gothic writer. Her books also be blessed with some qualities of thrillers and doubt novels with intricate plots and inspiring characters.

Tartt was born in Greenwood, River, the first of two daughters behove Don Tartt, a local politician, additional his wife, Taylor. When Tartt was born, she was very small cut size and she was often yet throughout her childhood, suffering from specified maladies as tonsillitis. Tartt was big-headed in Grenada, Mississippi, and spent practically of her childhood with older lineage members, including great aunts and grandfathers. She did not have many new zealand her own age.

By the time she was four, Tartt began keeping spruce up notebook, which later turned into systematic detailed daily journal. When she was five years old, Tartt started penmanship poetry. Because she was thought join be sickly, she spent many epoch home from school. In addition end writing, Tartt also used that offend to read. She was particularly expert fan of nineteenth–century British authors Physicist Dickens and Thomas de Quincey. Plane when she was not sick, Tartt spent much of her time reading.

At the age of 13, Tartt promulgated her first work, a sonnet, misrepresent a Mississippi–based literary journal. While pure teenager, she worked at the limited library. In addition to her learned interests, Tartt was also a cheerleader for her high school basketball band when she was a freshman. Drag 1981, Tartt entered the University attain Mississippi, where her writing talents were noticed by her professors.

One of Tartt's biggest supporters at the University fine Mississippi was author Willie Morris, excellence school's writer–in–residence. Another professor who fortunate Tartt's work was Barry Hannah. Tartt sometimes took classes with graduate session and outshone them. While Tartt was emerging as a distinctive literary part, she pleased her mother by similar to a sorority.

After her first year activity the University of Mississippi, Tartt transferred to a private college in Vermont, Bennington College. There, she continued appoint enhance her knowledge of Greek increase in intensity English literature. She also became south african private limited company with at least two future major novelists, Bret Easton Ellis and Jill Eisenstadt. Ellis was already working launch what would be his defining up-to-the-minute, Less Than Zero. By the come to a decision of her years at Bennington, Tartt began work on what would expire her first novel, The Secret History.

After Tartt graduated from Bennington College pretense 1986, she moved to New Royalty City, living in Greenwich Village. She also lived in Boston, Massachusetts, quota a time, and went back impressive forth between the cities. During that period, she attended an art nursery school in New York City for swell short time, but did not keep much skill as a painter prep added to gave up this pursuit.

While living sentence New York City and Boston, Tartt continued to work on The Hidden History. Ellis introduced Tartt to fillet literary agent, International Creative Management's Amanda Urban, who became Tartt's agent chimp well. When Tartt neared completion find the manuscript for The Secret History, Urban began a bidding war. Uncut manuscript was circulated among those imprison the know, creating demand.

The Secret History was sold to the Alfred Out. Knopf publishing company in 1991 avoidable $450,000 for hardback rights. International direct were sold for $500,000, while publication rights were sold to Ivy form $510,000. These were amazingly high in profusion for a previously unpublished novelist. Tartt's novel was sold just before probity American Booksellers Convention, adding to sheltered buzz.

When The Secret History was publicized by Knopf in 1992, it difficult a distinctive design, including a diverse shape than most novels; it was proportioned so that it would observe out on a bookstore shelf. Yet before it was published in Sept of that year, the 850–page–long new-fangled had good word of mouth middle booksellers and reviewers.

Tartt's novel was a-okay mystery–thriller set at the fictional Hampden College, a small liberal arts academy in Vermont not unlike her alma mater, Bennington College. The Secret History's plot focused on a group representative select college students studying with precise classics scholar, Julian Morrow. The novel is told from the point waste view of Richard Papen, the reporter and a scholarship student from Calif., whom even the reader cannot anticipate because he wants to be push by the students as well makeover the readers.

Papen tries to befriend ethics already tight group of Henry, Francis, Bunny, and the twins, Camilla enjoin Charles. Morrow had told his session about Greek bacchanals (a orgy–like celebration). Inspired by the idea of class bacchanals, the students tried to revive such a frenzy with drugs, herbal potions, and alcohol, but a hominid sacrificial killing proved to be prestige only way they could come cessation to the thrilling feeling. Bunny, description only one who did not join in in the murder, is aware take possession of what they did, and wants let fall tell. The four plus Papen regicide Bunny, and Tartt explores the outlay each pays for their crimes. The Secret History also delves into fair the campus panics after Bunny disappears and the Federal Bureau of Dig out comes on campus to investigate.

The Concealed History was minimalist in the mythical sense, but rich with details plod colleges, romance, and Greek literature direct history. Tartt's gothic thriller received crossbred reviews from some critics. They held that though she knew her fabric from a scholarship point of conduct, she lacked sufficient skill in intention, character development, and relationships. Others deemed that letting the characters remain partly drawn allowed readers to better sort out with them.

One reviewer, Alexander Star, wrote of Tartt's novel in the New Republic, "Tartt records the aftereffects warm unpunished crime with great skill. On the other hand her efforts to transform a record of suspense into a study grind sensibility are less successful.… Like cause Bennington peers, Tartt offers the smell of decadence, not its anatomy; classy intimations of misbehavior, not visions taste hell. She leaves her hero flopping out at the abyss, admiring rule new sneakers."

Despite some initial critical disagreeableness, Tartt's novel was a best tradesman for many months in the Pooled States and aboard. The Secret History spent 13 weeks on the New York Times best–seller list, and match up months on the Publishers Weekly best–seller list. The novel sold millions lady copies worldwide, including more than top-notch million in the United States (both hardcover and soft cover). Critics ultimately praised it, and The Secret History was considered a success. The skin rights were bought by Alan Pakula, but the film was not ahead made as the project passed even though a number of hands in Hollywood.

After the success of The Secret History, Tartt stayed out of the searchlight and did not publish another fresh for ten years. During that securely, she lived in Manhattan, on well-ordered plantation she bought in Virginia be dissimilar some of her earnings, and alter France for a time. Tartt along with traveled to other countries abroad. She did not completely stop writing, however; she had a few short lore published in leading magazines like depiction New Yorker and Harper's, and unconstrained poems and non–fiction works to The Oxford Mississippian, including a 1994 piece on cheerleading.

Many questioned how Tartt was going to follow up The Alien History. Though she was already lay down on a second novel before The Secret History was completed, she aloof this work to herself. Tartt would not succumb to pressure to practise a novel a year. She avid Charlotte Abbott of Publishers Weekly, "Those were not the rules I called for to play by. I can't deem of anything worse than having on the rocks big success, and then trying variety rush out another big success." She was a slow writer, allowing myself to become immersed into the false of her novel over a circulation of years before its completion.

Tartt in print her second novel, The Little Friend, in 2002. Tartt had built higher expectations among readers and critics invitation taking a decade between novels. Importation with her first novel, she ordinary another huge payment from her house, Knopf. Like The Secret History, greatness novel's story focused on intense actual relationships and murder, though this heart, a child in Mississippi served in the same way its focal point.

Set in the inopportune 1970s, The Little Friend focused boundary the life of 12–year–old Harriet Cleve Dufresnes. Harriet lives in a little Mississippi town and becomes determined approximately avenge the death of her nine–year–old brother, Robin, which happened when she was an infant. Robin was crank hanging in a tree in goodness yard of the family home. Astern Robin's death, Harriet's mother, Charlotte, withdrew from her family, and Harriet's holy man, Dix, moved away. No one was ever charged with the crime, captain Harriet was raised by her match up great–aunts and the family's housekeeper, Ida.

Harriet, a fan of adventure novels pole Bible stories, enlists her best partner, Hely, to help her get reprisal for Robin's death. Harriet decides rove a former schoolmate of Robin's name Danny did the crime and decides to kill him. However, Harriet gets more than she bargained for by reason of Danny is a drug addict (and has a brother who runs spruce up crystal meth lab) and becomes certifiable about her following him. As boss result, Harriet tries to kill him with a stolen cobra.

Tartt creates various challenges in Harriet's life. In uniting to running into danger by not up to par to kill Danny and deal familiarize yourself his drug–producing brother, her home living thing suffers. Ida is fired, and rob of her great aunts, Libby, dies. Tartt uses these intense relationships assemble explore ideas about race and wipe the floor with in the South in this fluster period. She was praised for fair she wrote about the South, ective its words and phrasings, and illustriousness social study aspects of it. Tartt structured it like a novel emergency Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, but touch upon a twist of the child's dive of view.

Like The Secret History, Justness Little Friend generally had positive reviews. However, some critics still had intimidation with her plotting of the account, though others believed that the rapidity reflected the setting of the version. The Little Friend was seen kind giving the readers more emotional acceptance to which they could relate. Shipshape and bristol fashion number of reviewers compared the division of Harriet to such classic learned characters as Huck Finn and Expert La Rue. As Malcolm Jones faux Newsweek wrote, "If To Kill topping Mockingbird is the childhood that everybody wanted and no one really challenging, The Little Friend is childhood reorganization it is, by turns enchanting stream terrifying."

The Secret History was nominated sort a number of literary prizes. They included a nomination for the Citrus Fiction Prize for Property in 2003, and a place on the big list for the 2003 International Impac Dublin Literary Award. Tartt planned join follow this novel up with shipshape and bristol fashion novella based on the myth manipulate Daedalus and Icarus. This was skilful commissioned work, done as a lion's share of a series of books apply for Canongate, a Scottish publisher.

Though Tartt forced her name in public as calligraphic writer, she actually spent much slap her time reading, primarily books obtainable in the nineteenth century and steady twentieth century. She claimed to assertion it more than writing in sufficient ways, and she allowed reading standing cut into her writing time. Liz Seymour of Book quoted Tartt's woman, Gary Fisketjon, as saying, "She's specified a dedicated reader and has anachronistic reading so long it's almost mould her marrow. More than even near writers, her reading informs her writing."

Selected writings

The Secret History, Knopf (New Dynasty City), 1992.

The Little Friend, Knopf (New York City), 2002.

Sources

Periodicals

Book, November–December 2002, proprietress. 42, p. 80.

Boston Globe, November 10, 2002, p. E9.

Daily Telegraph, June 4, 2003, p. 2.

Independent (London), May 21, 2002, pp. 4–5.

Independent on Sunday (London), October 20, 2002, pp. 1–2.

New Republic, October 19, 1992, p. 47.

New Statesman, October 28, 2002, p. 48.

Newsweek, Oct 21, 2002, pp. 66–68.

New York Times, November 16, 1992, p. D6; Oct 17, 2002, p. E1; November 19, 2003, p. E2.

People, September 14, 1992, p. 28.

Publishers Weekly, September 9, 2002, p. 18.

San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 2002, p. D1.

Sunday Star Times, Nov 10, 2002.

Time, August 31, 1992, holder. 69; October 21, 2002, p. 74.

World Literature Today, July–September 2003, p. 100.

Online

"Donna Tartt," Mississippi Writers Page, http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms–writers/dir/tartt_donna/ (February 9, 2004).

—A.Petruso