Adam Haslett Books

The Bonfire of the Vanities for 2010! A powerful, deeply involving novel of the modern world - a world in crisis, where individual humanity is pitted against the global marketplace.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2017 Universal and essential, the heart-breaking story of an ordinary American family shaped by tragedy Michael is a precocious kid, smart and funny, obsessed with books and music. His sister Celia is the sensible one in the family: tougher than the boys, unshakeably certain about how the world works. And then there's Alec, the most ambitious and also the most sensitive, growing up in the shadow of his older siblings. While all three are still young, the course of their lives is changed forever. In a family marked by tragedy, Michael, Celia and Alec struggle for years to save one another from the destructive legacy of guilt. Weaving together the voices of five family members, Adam Haslett imagines how a single event can define many lives, unfolding a rich and painful novel that has all the makings of an American classic.

The eagerly anticipated debut novel from the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist You Are Not a Stranger Here: a deeply affecting portrait of the modern gilded age, the first decade of the twenty-first century.At the heart of Union Atlantic lies a test of wills between a young banker, Doug Fanning, and a retired schoolteacher, Charlotte Graves, whose two dogs have begun to speak to her. When Doug builds an ostentatious mansion on land that Charlotte's grandfather donated to the town of Finden, Massachusetts, she determines to oust him in court. As a senior manager of Union Atlantic bank, a major financial conglomerate, Doug is embroiled in the company's struggle to remain afloat. It is Charlotte's brother, Henry Graves, the president of the New York Federal Reserve, who must keep a watchful eye on Union Atlantic and the entire financial system. Drawn into Doug and Charlotte's intensifying conflict is Nate Fuller, a troubled high-school senior who unwittingly stirs powerful emotions in each of them. Irresistibly complex, imaginative, and witty, Union Atlantic is a singular work of fiction that is sure to be read and reread long after it causes a sensation this spring.

In un quieto soggiorno un fratello e una sorella non piú giovani preparano la tavola per un ospite amato, da tanti anni lontano. In una abitazione isolata un giovane medico sta per visitare una donna che ha quattro dita amputate da una misteriosa ferita. Nella casa paterna, ormai vuota dei genitori defunti, un ragazzo aspetta da un altro ragazzo la brutalità piú estrema pur di dare senso alla propria esistenza. Sempre, nei luoghi dove Haslett ambienta la propria narrazione, si compie una via crucis lancinante e si manifesta al tempo stesso, in tutta la sua trepida gloria, l'epifania della vita. Sembra anzi che soprattutto nel dolore, nella mancanza, nella perdita, nella deformità mentale o fisica, in ciò che di solito va scartato, e forma invece buona parte dell'intera nostra realtà, i personaggi di Haslett acquistino una statura tanto superiore a chi li vorrebbe, in qualche modo, «misurare», curare. E la perenne imminenza della catastrofe che caratterizza la loro discesa agli inferi è tutt'uno, per noi lettori, con la tranquilla luminosità della lingua che li racconta.

In diesem Band der Tübinger Poetik-Vorlesungen 2009 untersuchen Jonathan Franzen und Adam Haslett das Wechselspiel zwischen Leben und Schreiben. Poetikvorlesungen bieten Wissen, das aus Erfahrung und persönlichen Erlebnissen stammt, und sollen keine bloßen Wiederholungen bereits veröffentlichter Texte sein. Stattdessen wird eine biografisch gesättigte Reflexion über das eigene Schreiben und Lesen angestrebt. Diese Vorlesungen thematisieren die Funktion, Wirkung und Rolle des Autors, wobei nicht nur die Rolle im Text, sondern auch die Person des Autors, seine Stimme, Geschichte und Präsenz im Mittelpunkt stehen. Die Frage nach dem Autobiografischen im Roman ist für den Autor von Bedeutung und geht über literaturwissenschaftliche Überlegungen hinaus. Franzen sieht einen Roman als persönlichen Kampf an, während Haslett betont, dass Schriftsteller die Bücher schreiben, die sie selbst lesen möchten. Beide Autoren reflektieren über die Herausforderungen, die das Schreiben mit sich bringt, und die Sehnsucht nach Anerkennung der inneren Konflikte. Franzen, geboren 1959, ist bekannt für Werke wie „Die Korrekturen“, während Haslett, Jahrgang 1970, mit „Union Atlantic“ über die Finanzkrise des 21. Jahrhunderts schrieb.