|
Biography
 |
|
Joyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of her New York Times cover story “ An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a freshman at Yale. Since then, she has been a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in more than fifty papers nationwide, a regular contributor to NPR. Her writing has also been published in national magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine; Newsweek; The New York Times Magazine; Forbes; Salon; San Francisco Magazine, USA Weekly; and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Charlie Rose, and on Fresh Air. Essays of hers appear in numerous collections. She has been a fellow at Yaddo, UCross, and The MacDowell Colony, where she wrote her most recently published novel, Labor Day. The author of nine books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in...
Joyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of her New York Times cover story “ An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a freshman at Yale. Since then, she has been a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in more than fifty papers nationwide, a regular contributor to NPR. Her writing has also been published in national magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine; Newsweek; The New York Times Magazine; Forbes; Salon; San Francisco Magazine, USA Weekly; and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Charlie Rose, and on Fresh Air. Essays of hers appear in numerous collections. She has been a fellow at Yaddo, UCross, and The MacDowell Colony, where she wrote her most recently published novel, Labor Day. The author of nine books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. Her novel, The Usual Rules—a story about surviving loss—has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the ten best books for young readers for 2003. Joyce Maynard also runs the Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in Guatemala, founded in 2002.
Official Websites
Education
Yale University
|
|
Timeline
A comic novel about a woman whose husband gets in the way of her ambition to be a television anchorwoman, so she convinces her teenage lover to kill him.The book was later made into a film directed by Gus Van Sant, starring Nicole Kidman (with me in the role of her lawyer) and screenplay by the incomparable Buck Henry. The book was out of print but I brought it back in print with an Author's Guild paperback edition.
Memoir. Published when I was 19. (Now out of print, but I brought it back into print in an Author's Guild paperback edition.) This was my first work of fiction, and came out of my obsession with parenthood. I was twenty-seven when I wrote it, and the mother of a two-year-old daughter. It is now out of print. A collection of my early essays about children, family, and parenthood, culled from my syndicated newspaper columns and the New York Times "Hers" column. It is now out of print. A children's book about a family campout, illustrated by my former husband, Steve Bethel—a true story of a family camping trip. It is now out of print. The second picture book that I published, illustrated by my former husband, Steve Bethel. It is now out of print. A comic novel about a woman whose husband gets in the way of her ambition to be a television anchorwoman, so she convinces her teenage lover to kill him.The book was later made into a film directed by Gus Van Sant, starring Nicole Kidman (with me in the role of her lawyer) and screenplay by the incomparable Buck Henry. The book was out of print but I brought it back in print with an Author's Guild paperback edition. A novel about two single parents attempting to make a life together. I had this idea the novel should be accompanied by a CD soundtrack of heartbreak alternative country songs of the sort I was listening to a lot myself at the time (during my own heartbreak times). My publisher thought this idea was a little too crazy, but I produced the CD anyway, myself. It's still available on my website JoyceMaynard.com and features the only recording ever made of Townes Van Zandt singing his beautiful ballad "If I Needed You" as a duet.
This is another memoir. This one is often described as "the book about Salinger." Actually, it's the book about me, but J. D. Salinger was, for a period, a part of my story. Publication of this one touched off a substantial controversy, in which many critics expressed the view that I had no right to speak of Salinger in my writing. My response to that view can be read elsewhere on this site (among the essays posted here).
This novel is the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose mother is killed on September 11—though this is far less a 9/11 novel than simply a story about mothers and daughters, and loss. Published as an adult novel, this one was named one of the Ten Best Young Adult novels of the year by the American Library Association.
A young adult novel about a boy whose father attempts suicide, this one explores a subject familiar from my own childhood and youth: family secrets.
An odd hybrid of true crime and memoir, this book tells the story of a woman named Nancy Seaman who murdered her husband, and of the aftermath of the crime that found the couple's two sons taking opposing positions at her trial. In a broader way, the book is also an exploration of my own re-examination of my anger following the end of my own twelve-year marriage.
What’s Next
This past May and June, I was lucky enough to spend a month-long writing residency in Wyoming—sponsored by The UCross Foundation. While in Wyoming, I lived in a log cabin on a 20,000-acre ranch... This past May and June, I was lucky enough to spend a month-long writing residency in Wyoming—sponsored by The UCross Foundation. While in Wyoming, I lived in a log cabin on a 20,000-acre ranch, where I could see white tail deer and antelopes out my windows (also the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains). Inspired by Wyoming, I finished a new novel, whose tentative title is Life on Earth. I'm hoping you'll be able to read it some time next year. The other big news in my life—the biggest, actually—is personal, rather than professional. Though I am now at an age (55) many people would regard as too old for this kind of thing, I have never gotten over my love of living with and raising children.
This fall, I will be fulfilling a long-time dream of mine: adopting two little girls from Ethiopia, sisters ages 6 and 9. I I could say much more about this, of course, but for now, I will simply tell you that I await the arrival of my new daughters with huge excitement and anticipation of a big adventure for us all.
Press & Articles
|
|
Books by Joyce Maynard
by Joyce Maynard
 With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming...  Browse Inside |
|
|