American novelist

Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld (born 1975) is an American writer. She is the author of a collection of short stories, You Think it, I’ll Say It (2018), as well as six novels: Prep (2005), the story of students at a M*achusetts prep school; The Man of My Dreams (2006), a coming-of-age novel and an examination of romantic love; American Wife (2008), a fictional story loosely based on the life of First Lady Laura Bush; Sisterland (2013), which tells the story of identical twins with psychic powers, Eligible (2016), a modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and Rodham (2020), an alternate history political novel about the life of Hillary Clinton.

Contents

• 1 Life and education
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Prep
  • 2.2 The Man of My Dreams
  • 2.3 American Wife
  • 2.4 Sisterland
  • 2.5 Eligible
  • 2.6 You Think It, I'll Say It
  • 2.7 Rodham
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Life and education

Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld was born August 23, 1975, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the second of four children (three girls and a boy) born to Elizabeth "Betsy" Curtis (née Bascom) and Paul George Sittenfeld (d. 2021). Her mother is an art history teacher and librarian at Seven Hills School, a private school in Cincinnati, and her father was an investment adviser. Her younger brother, P.G. Sittenfeld, is a former member of the Cincinnati City Council. Her mother is Catholic and her father was Jewish.

She attended Seven Hills School through the eighth grade, then attended high school at Groton School, a boarding school in Groton, M*achusetts, graduating in 1993. In 1992, the summer before her senior year, she won Seventeen magazine's fiction contest.

She attended V*ar College in Poughkeepsie, New York before transferring to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. At Stanford, she studied creative writing, wrote articles for the college newspaper, and edited that paper's weekly arts magazine. At the time, she was also chosen as one of Glamourʼs College Women of the Year. She went on to earn an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.

In 2008, she married Matt Carlson. They have two daughters.

Career

Prep

Her first novel, Prep, which took her three years to write, was published in 2005 and concerns a girl, Lee Fiora, from South Bend, Indiana, who goes to Ault School, an elite boarding school near Boston, M*achusetts.

Elissa Schappell, who wrote in The New York Times Review of Books: "Sittenfeld's dialogue is so convincing that one wonders if she didn't wear a wire under her hockey kilt." The New York Times named Prep one of their top five works of fiction for 2005. Entertainment Weekly labelled Prep a "cult-cl*ic" in a 2018 re*essment.

The Man of My Dreams

Sittenfeld's second novel, called The Man of My Dreams, was published in May 2006 by Random House. It follows a girl named Hannah from the end of her 8th grade year through her college years at Tufts University and into her late twenties.

American Wife

Sittenfeld's third novel, called American Wife (2008), is the tale of Alice Blackwell, a fictional character who shares many similarities with former First Lady Laura Bush. In November 2011, it was announced that Red Crown Productions had begun work on a film version, with the adaptation written by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Ron Nyswaner.

Sisterland

Sisterland was published on June 25, 2013. The book's protagonist Kate is an identical twin with psychic powers.

Eligible

Eligible was published on April 19, 2016 by Random House. It is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Cincinnati, Ohio. In September 2017, ABC announced its commitment to make a TV pilot of Eligible with Sherri Cooper and Jennifer Levin to write it.

You Think It, I'll Say It

You Think It, I'll Say It is a collection of short stories that Random House published on April 24, 2018.

Rodham

Main article: Rodham (novel)

Rodham is an alternate history political novel about the life of Hillary Clinton, published in 2020. The novel diverges from reality at the point where Hillary chooses not to marry Bill Clinton and enters political life as a single woman. Rodham divided critics.

References

External links

• Official website