Hallman, J.C.

PERSONAL:

Education: University of Pittsburgh, B.A., 1989; University of Iowa, M.F.A., 1991; Johns Hopkins University, M.A., 1997.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—JCHallman@gmail.com.

CAREER:

Iowa Review, Iowa City, IA, editorial assistant, 1990; University of Iowa, Iowa City, teaching assistant, 1990-91, adjunct lecturer, 1993; Beachcomber News, Brigantine, NJ, 1995-96; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, teaching assistant, 1996-97; Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA, adjunct lecturer, 2004-05; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, adjunct lecturer, 2004-05; Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA, currently writer-in-residence.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Henfield/Transatlantic Review Award, 1991; James Michener Fellowship, 1993-94; Reader's Choice Award, Prairie Schooner, for "Savages."

WRITINGS:

The Chess Artist: Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2003.

The Devil Is a Gentleman: Exploring America's Religious Fringe, Random House (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Prairie Schooner, Other Voices, Antioch Review, Manoah, West Branch, Hawaii Review, American Literary Review, Boulevard, Greensboro Review, Great River Review, GQ, Excerpt, and Beloit Fiction Journal. Reviewer, Kirkus Reviews, 2001-03.

SIDELIGHTS:

J.C. Hallman met chess master Glenn Umstead while working a post-college job at a casino, and the pair struck up a friendship based on mutual admiration of the game. Although a self-professed amateur, Hallman became enthralled by the chess community, and with Umstead he traveled around the world examining the impact the game of chess has had on various subcultures. Destinations included prisons, chess clubs and stores, casinos, academia, and the Russian province of Kalmykia, ruled by a dictator with a chess obsession who is also leader of the World Chess Federation. Hallman shared his journey in this first book, The Chess Artist: Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game. Booklist reviewer David Pitt called the book "educational, fanciful, entertaining," noting it will "make every reader see the game of chess in an entirely new—if slightly weird—light." A contributor to Publishers Weekly commented: "Chess enthusiasts will enjoy this delightful tour."

Hallman's next book was inspired by a trip to San Diego to visit two UFO groups, Heaven's Gate and the Unarius Academy of Science. After writing about his time with the Unarians, he decided to delve into a number of what he calls "fringe religions" and examine their histories and practices. In The Devil Is a Gentleman: Exploring America's Religious Fringe, Hallman interlaces anecdotes of his times with various religious groups with a biography of William James, a nineteenth-century psychologist and philosopher who wrote The Varieties of Religious Experience. June Sawyers commented in a Booklist review that The Devil Is a Gentleman is an "insightful journey into the hearts and souls of America's spiritual fringe."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2003, David Pitt, review of The Chess Artist: Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game, p. 42; May 1, 2006, June Sawyers, review of The Devil Is a Gentleman: Exploring America's Religious Fringe, p. 54.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2006, review of The Devil Is a Gentleman, p. 274.

Publishers Weekly, July 21, 2003, review of The Chess Artist, p. 184.