Klimasewiski, Marshall N. 1966-

views updated

Klimasewiski, Marshall N. 1966-

PERSONAL:

Born 1966, in Hartford, CT. Education: Carnegie Mellon University, B.A., 1988; Bowling Green State University, M.F.A.; Boston University, M.A.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—mnklimas@artsci.wustl.edu.

CAREER:

During early career, worked as a short-order cook, electrical technician, temporary office worker, and special projects coordinator for WGBH, Boston, MA; has taught creative writing at Bowling Green State University, Emory University, and the University of Hartford; Washington University, St. Louis, MO, writer in residence, 1999—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Cohen Award, Ploughshares, 1995, for short story "Snowfield."

WRITINGS:

The Cottagers (novel), W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor of short fiction to periodicals, including Ploughshares, Antioch Review, Quarterly West, ONTHEBUS, Tri-Quarterly, Yale Review, Missouri Review, and the New Yorker; contributor to the anthology Best American Short Stories.

SIDELIGHTS:

Marshall N. Klimasewiski is the author of short stories, and his debut novel, The Cottagers, appeared in 2006. The book tells of two couples who are renting a cabin together on Vancouver Island with the idea of leading a simple existence while they write their respective books. Meanwhile, tensions are high between the locals and the tourists, and teenager Cyrus Coddington comes to town and serves as the catalyst that brings things to a head. A contributor for Kirkus Reviews called the book "a limp first novel, shallow in its characterizations and lacking narrative energy." However, Ploughshares critic Fred Leebron found it "an edgy and compelling story." Steven Heighton described it in the New York Times Book Review as a "flawed, complex, intelligent novel," and "a novel of grim insights and troubling pronouncements." Heighton added that one of Klimasewiski's strengths is "his willingness to create a cast of characters who are unlikable in very human ways—and who become less sympathetic as their story unfolds."