Christopher Bollen

Christopher Bollen (born November 26, 1975) is an American novelist[1] and magazine writer/editor who lives in New York City.[2]

Christopher Bollen
Photo of Christopher Bollen
Bollen in 2016
Born (1975-11-26) November 26, 1975
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Alma materColumbia University (BA)
Occupation(s)Novelist, editor

Describing his novels, The Daily Telegraph notes that "Bollen writes expansive, psychologically probing novels in the manner of Updike, Eugenides and Franzen, but he is also an avowed disciple of Agatha Christie."[3]

Early life

Bollen grew up in Cincinnati, where he graduated from St. Xavier High School.[4] He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University in 1998.[5]

Career

Bollen was the editor-in-chief of Interview from early 2008 to mid-2009, after serving as editor-in-chief of V.[6][7] After stepping down as editor-in-chief, he continued on as editor-at-large of Interview.[8] On May 21, 2018, the publication ceased operations completely after nearly 50 years.

Bollen also writes about art and culture at other publications like Artforum and The New York Times.

Novels

Bollen published his first novel, Lightning People, in 2011.[9] Lightning People is about downtown New York City in 2007.[10][11]

His second novel is titled Orient, a thriller published in May 2015 by HarperCollins named after Orient, New York (the tip of the North Fork of Long Island). The Los Angeles Times writes that Orient "might well be this summer's most ambitious thriller or this summer's most thrilling work of literary fiction."[12] The Times further describes it as a "juicy mystery at the tip of Long Island at summer's end, when the season's fleeting pleasures have blown away, revealing the fractured and fractious year-round community that remains behind when the casual visitors have returned to the relative safety of New York City."[12]

Bollen's third novel, The Destroyers, was published on June 27, 2017, by HarperCollins. It is set on the island of Patmos, Greece, where the Book of Revelation was thought to be written and was describing by the New York Times as[13] "evoking a seductive mood of longing mixed with regret." It was honoured with The Fitzgerald Award in France.[14] His fourth novel, A Beautiful Crime, was published in January 2020 by HarperCollins.[15] The novel deals with two young gay men involved in a heist in contemporary Venice, Italy.[16] It was a Best Book of the year 2020 by Oprah Magazine.[17] The novel went on to be a finalist for the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.[18]

Bollen's short story "SWAJ", a queer retelling of Peter Benchley's Jaws published in the Brooklyn Rail,[19] was selected for inclusion in 2021's The Best American Mystery and Suspense.[20]

Bollen's fifth novel, The Lost Americans was published in March 2023 by HarperCollins.[21] Set in Cairo, it deals with the mysterious death of a weapons defense contractor and his sister's attempt to solve the mystery of his murder. Bollen's portrayal of a gay Egyptian character during the current political climate received particular praise. New York Times called it "sobering, shocking," "gripping and genuinely moving. [22]

Bollen was a jurist for the 2023 PEN/Faulker Award for Fiction, won by Yiyun Li [23]

References
  1. McInerney, Jay (1 September 2011). "Chris Bollen". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  2. Pollack, Maika. "Christopher Bollen". artforum.com. Artforum. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  3. Kerridge, Jake (14 April 2015). "Orient by Christopher Bollen, review: 'highly pleasing'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  4. Bunch, Eileen (October 27, 2020). "Meet 19 Authors with Local Ties". Cincinnati.
  5. Rouen, Ethan (1 December 2011). "Christopher Bollen '98's Love-Hate Letter to New York City". Columbia Today. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  6. Koblin, John (3 March 2008). "The Post-Sischy Interview". The New York Observer. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  7. "Management Changes at Interview Magazine". The New York Times. 19 July 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  8. Rovzar, Chris (11 September 2011). "164 Minutes With Christopher Bollen". New York Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  9. Bollen, Christopher (2011). Lightning People. San Francisco: Soft Skull Press. p. 368. ISBN 9781593764197.
  10. Brown, Jacob (20 September 2011). "Asked & Answered: Christopher Bollen". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  11. Sachs, Sam (3 September 2011). "Rootless Urban Transplants". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  12. Pochoda, Ivy (8 May 2015). "Review: Christopher Bollen's 'Orient' a literary thriller with wit and style". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  13. Ziolkowski, Thad (18 August 2017). "Money, Murder and a Missing Heir in a Thriller Set in Greece". The New York Times.
  14. "THE AMERICAN CHRISTOPHER BOLLEN IS THE LAUREAT OF THE 8TH EDITION OF THE FITZGERALD AWARD" (PDF). 8 June 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  15. "A BEAUTIFUL CRIME | Kirkus Reviews".
  16. "Mystery/Thriller Book Review: A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen. Harper, $27.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-06-285388-2".
  17. "These Are the Best Books of 2020, According to O, the Oprah Magazine". 19 November 2020.
  18. "Here are the finalists for the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prizes - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. 2 March 2021.
  19. Bollen, Christopher (October 6, 2020). "SWAJ". The Brooklyn Rail.
  20. Goldberg, Tod. "Excellent new 'Best American Mystery & Suspense' revives stale genre series with diverse voices". USA TODAY.
  21. "THE LOST AMERICANS". Kirkus Reviews. 2023-03-14.
  22. "A Body, a Cover-Up and a Dangerous Quest in Cairo". NY Times. 2023-03-14.
  23. "Announcing the Winner of the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction". penfaulkner.org. 2023-04-04.
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