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Imagine working on something for years, only to have to throw it all away and start again from scratch. People wonder why Jeffrey Eugenides publishes a novel every decade... well, there's your first clue. His latest, 'The Marriage Plot', grew out of another book he'd been working on for years. Talk about a rough day at the office...
While he might never win a Pulitzer for speed, Eugenides has become known as one of the greatest American novelists of our time.
Born in Detroit in 1960, he graduated from Brown University and dabbled in creative writing and short stories throughout his college years. He didn't publish until 1993, with 'The Virgin Suicides'; a dark story about 5 teenaged sisters who take their own lives. It caught the attention of critics (and a first-time director by the name of Sofia Coppola).
10 years later Eugenides published 'Middlesex', and proved he was the real deal. The story of Cal, a hermaphrodite man of Greek descent, won Eugenides the Pulitzer and put him on America's most prestigious book club list. Thanks to Oprah, 'Middlesex' sold more than 3 million copies worldwide and inspired some very real and necessary dialogue about sexual fluidity, identity, and belonging.
Now Eugenides is back to prove third time's the charm, with 'The Marriage Plot'. Set at Brown University in the Reagan era, it explores the modern-day relevance of love, marriage and the fairytale ending.
Check out the rest of this week's guests right here.
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