Catherine Newman

Last updated
Catherine Newman
Born1968 (age 56–57)
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAmerican
Education Amherst College
University of California, Santa Cruz (PhD)
Website
www.catherinenewmanwriter.com

Catherine Newman (born 1968) is an American author of books for children and adults.

Contents

Biography

Newman attended Fieldston High School in the Bronx and graduated from Amherst College in 1990. [1] Newman earned a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. [2]

Newman has worked in hospice care. [3] Her favorite book is Adrienne Rich's The Dream of a Common Language. [1]

Newman lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. [4] [2] She is Jewish. [5]

Writing career

Newman has written for Taste [6] and The Washington Post . [7]

Her memoir Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family (Penguin, 2005) received a starred review from Publishers Weekly , which called it "honest, tender and funny". [8] Kirkus Reviews said, "what sustains the reader is the steady humor displayed in Newman’s benignly wacko voice, crisp and always ready to deflate". [9]

Kirkus called her second memoir, Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood's Messy Years (Little, Brown & Co., 2016), "an overly sentimental book". [10]

Her adult fiction debut was We All Want Impossible Things (Harper, 2022). [11] It tells the story of two longtime friends as one of them is dying of ovarian cancer. Newman was inspired to write it following the 2015 death of a good friend. [12] We All Want Impossible Things received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews that read, "Newman perfectly captures the beauty and burden of caring for someone in their final moments" and "a warm and remarkably funny book about death and caregiving that will make readers laugh through their tears". [13] Publishers Weekly called it a "moving adult debut". [14]

Newman's most recent novel, "Sandwich", was published in 2024, again by Harper. Although on the surface it is about a summer week that an extended family spends on the Cape, it is really a touching and funny meditation on family and all that means. The New York Times says that "if you want to laugh out loud, tear up and rush to pull out a book in the 35 seconds between subway stops, this sweet, savory, tenderhearted 'Sandwich' fits the bill." [15]

In addition to her works for adults, Newman has written several books for children that were published by Storey Publishing, including Stitch Camp: 18 Crafty Projects for Kids & Tweens (2017; cowritten with Nicole Blum), [16] How to Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn before You're Grown Up (2020), [17] What Can I Say? A Kid's Guide to Super-Useful Social Skills to Help You Get Along and Express Yourself: Speak Up, Speak Out, Talk about Hard Things, and Be a Good Friend (2022). [18]

Selected works

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References

  1. 1 2 "About the Author: Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood's Messy Years by Catherine Newman '90". Amherst College. May 2016. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  2. 1 2 "Catherine Newman (1968-)." Something About the Author, edited by Jennifer Stock. Vol. 331, Gale, 2019. pp. 169-170. Gale Literature: Something About the Author. Accessed 1 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "My hospice job taught me to love recklessly, no matter how much time is left". TODAY.com. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  4. ↑ "Catherine Newman." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors . Gale, 2006. Gale Literature Resource Center. Accessed 1 May 2023. Via Proquest.
  5. ↑ Gordon, Fay (2023-04-11). "Jewish Writer Catherine Newman Wrote a Funny Book About Dying". Kveller. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  6. ↑ "Catherine Newman, Author at TASTE". TASTE. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  7. ↑ Newman, Catherine. "Perspective | The beauty of friendships in parenthood" . Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  8. 1 2 "Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family by Catherine Newman". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  9. 1 2 Waiting for Birdy. Kirkus Reviews.
  10. 1 2 Catastrophic Happness. Kirkus Reviews.
  11. ↑ Ermelino, Louisa. "Catherine Newman's Poignant, Personal Debut Adult Novel". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  12. 1 2 Dwyer, Dialynn (2022-12-12). "Q&A: Catherine Newman on her novel 'We All Want Impossible Things'". www.boston.com. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  13. 1 2 We All Want Impossible Things. Kirkus Reviews.
  14. 1 2 "We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  15. ↑ Hanauer, Cathi (18 June 2024). "A Hot, Fraught Cape Cod Family Drama". The New York Times.
  16. 1 2 "Stitch Camp: 18 Crafty Projects for Kids & Tweens—Learn 6 All-Time Favorite Skills; Sew, Knit, Crochet, Felt, Embroider & Weave". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  17. 1 2 "How To Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills To Learn Before You're Grown Up" . School Library Journal. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  18. 1 2 Brian, Rachel (2022-05-27). "2 Graphic-Style Guidebooks to Calm Kids' Social Butterflies". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  19. ↑ "Reviewer's Bookwatch". Midwest Book Review. February 2006. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  20. ↑ Strauss, Elissa (2016-04-08). "'Catastrophic Happiness,' by Catherine Newman". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  21. ↑ Senior, Jennifer (2016-04-03). "Review: 'Catastrophic Happiness,' a Comedy of Manners About Bumpy Child-Rearing". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  22. ↑ Stitch Camp by Nicole Blum. Booklist Online.
  23. ↑ "Children's Bookwatch". Midwest Book Review. November 2017. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  24. ↑ How to Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn before You're Grown Up by Catherine Newman. Booklist Online.
  25. ↑ Hackert, Lauren. "We All Want Impossible Things" . Library Journal. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  26. ↑ We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman . Booklist Online.
  27. ↑ Klam, Julie (2022-11-04). "When Friendship Prevails Until the Bitter — and Sweet — End". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-05-01.
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