Lazebnik, Claire Scovell

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LaZEBNIK, Claire Scovell

PERSONAL:

Born in Newton, MA; married Robert LaZebnik (a television writer and producer); children: four. Education: Harvard University, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1985.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Pacific Palisades, CA. Agent—c/o Viking Press, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. E-mail—Claire@sameasitneverwas.com.

CAREER:

Writer.

WRITINGS:

Same As It Never Was (novel), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2003, published as Olivia's Sister, Piatkus (London, England), 2003.

(With Lynn Kern Koegel) Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a Child's Life, Viking Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Contibutor to American Girls about Town, by Jennifer Weiner, Lauren Weisberger, and Adriana Trigiani, Pocket Books (London, England), 2004. Also contributor to magazines including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and GQ.

SIDELIGHTS:

To professional writer Claire Scovell LaZebnik, human relationships are an important theme. Her first book, the novel Same As It Never Was, centers on twenty-one-year-old Olivia Martin, a college junior, who grows to despise her family. Her cold, indifferent, and haughty stepmother defers at all times to Olivia's dominating, bossy, martini-swilling father; her biological mother is extremely immature and helpless; and her preschool-age half-sister is a spoiled, prissy, girlish, whining brat. Olivia distances herself from the entire clan and in the process builds emotional walls to keep the world at bay. Even while attempting to find romance and seeking freedom at any price, she is an unhappy young woman who finds little with which not to be disgusted.

When Olivia's father and stepmother die in a violent automobile accident, she inherits their huge Los Angeles home and, to her shock and dismay, her little sister. While attempting to maintain her previous lifestyle, she takes on the responsibility of raising the child, stuffing her with candy and turning on the TV when the child needs anything. She also becomes smitten with the executor of her father's will, who expects her to become a nurturer to her sister rather than just a caretaker. In the process of learning how to mother the child, Olivia begins to develop a fondness for her. Amy Brozio-Andrews of Library Journal said that LaZebnik's "ability to draw a disparate cast of characters together into a new family makes for an engaging read." Laura L. Krug, writing for Harvard Magazine, said "LaZebnik's wit comes through clearly in the heroine's frank, blunt manner."

LaZebnik's second work, Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a Child's Life, is a joint effort with Dr. Lynn Kern Koegel, one of the world's leading experts in the treatment of autism and founder of the Autism Research Center at the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara. LaZebnik's involvement in the project began with an unexpected phone call from Koegel inviting her to be her coauthor. LaZebnik, who has a son with autism, was thrilled with the invitation. "I have very little interest in writing nonfiction," she told Krug. "But when Lynn asked me to write the book with her, it was the classic offer you can't refuse." The book is aimed at parents and other family members who are working to help an autistic child overcome behaviors associated with the disorder.

The book is organized by chapters specific to typical behaviors and discusses those behaviors both clinically and from a parent's perspective. Because of her personal experience with autism, LaZebnik provides insight into the daily life of parents in a similar situation. She and her husband implemented the practical, warm, and nurturing strategies outlined in the book, and she noted that their son's progress was remarkable. "He is now a happy, healthy twelve-year-old," Krug reported, "'a little quirky,' but with no visible signs of a disability." Reviewing the book for Publishers Weekly, Jeff Zaleski wrote, "The authors' humane, proactive tactics toward improving autistic behavior will interest parents willing to take a labor-intensive, teaching approach" with their autistic children.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

LaZebnik, Claire Scovell, and Lynn Kern Koegel, Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a Child's Life, Viking Press (New York, NY), 2004.