Lipman, Elinor 1950-

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Lipman, Elinor 1950-

PERSONAL: Born October 16, 1950, in Lowell, MA; daughter of Louis Saul (a paper jobber) and Julia (a program director; maiden name, Mazur) Lipman; married Robert M. Austin (a radiologist), July 29, 1975; children: Benjamin Austin. Education: Simmons College, A.B., 1972. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES: Home—67 Winterberry Ln., Northampton, MA 01062. Agent—Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Agency, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. E-mail—elinorlip@comcast.net.

CAREER: Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission, Boston, public information officer, 1974–75; Massachusetts Teachers Association, Boston, managing editor, 1975–81; Simmons College, Boston, special instructor in communications, 1984–85; Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, visiting assistant professor of creative writing, 1988–89; writer, 1989–. Smith College, instructor, 1997.

MEMBER: International PEN, Authors Guild, Authors League of America.

AWARDS, HONORS: New England Book Award for fiction, 2001.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Then She Found Me, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1990.

The Way Men Act, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Isabel's Bed, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1995.

The Inn at Lake Devine, Random House (New York, NY), 1998.

The Ladies' Man, Random House (New York, NY), 1999.

The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, Random House (New York, NY), 2003.

My Latest Grievance, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2006.

OTHER

Into Love and Out Again (short stories), Viking (New York, NY), 1987.

Work represented in anthologies, including New Fiction from New England, Yankee Books, 1986. Columnist for Boston Globe Magazine. Contributor of short stories and reviews to magazines and newspapers, including Cosmopolitan, Wigwag, New York Times, Ascent, Playgirl, Ladies' Home Journal, Self, and New England Living.

ADAPTATIONS: Some of Lipman's books have been recorded as audiobooks, including Isabel's Bed.

SIDELIGHTS: Elinor Lipman writes "comic novels" which, according to Diane White in the Boston Globe, display "a remarkable ear for the way certain women talk." White added: "Critics both male and female have praised [Lipman's] writing for its wit, insight, and economy of style…. If people laugh at her work, it's because her voice is natural and spontaneous and her observations have the authenticity of everyday life." Comparing Lipman to Jane Austen in a review of Isabel's Bed, Tribune Books contributor Julia Glass observed: "Lipman is one of the last urbane romantics, her heroines the Emmas and Elizabeths of angst-ridden Baby Boom America. Brainy, introspective and vaguely virginal, they are blessed by accidents of fate that catapult them out of bland, bookish lives to land the man, the job, the self-esteem—and all without an ounce of guile."

Lipman's short-story compilation Into Love and Out Again presents a comedic look at men and women who are often frustrated by their careers, their appearances, and their love lives. Several of the relationships examined in the collection are either maintained or terminated as the result of compromise. The opening story features a female narrator who decides to remain betrothed to her fiancé rather than explore the possibility of romance with a Chinese student. Another spotlights an obsequious woman whose involvement with a member of the working class is terminated as the result of pressure from her snobbish family. At the heart of the book is a body of seven stories that tracks the relationship between a young man and an unwed, pregnant woman. Timothy and Hannah become involved in "what appears to be less a marriage than a compromise," according to Alida Becker in the Washington Post Book World. For Lipman's effort on the compilation, Sara Vogan in the New York Times Book Review described Into Love and Out Again as "a roller coaster of romantic encounters."

In her first novel Then She Found Me, Lipman reunites a mother and her daughter after more than thirty-five years of separation from each other. April Epner, a high school teacher who was adopted as an infant, is tracked down by her birth mother, a flamboyant talk-show host, shortly after the death of her adoptive parents. Although April initially loathes the television personality, she is intrigued when she is told that not only is Bernice Graverman her mother but that John F. Kennedy is her father. In order to discover whether she could have been the child of the president, April solicits the help of the high school librarian, a nerd who is often ridiculed by students. Her coworker reveals himself to be pleasantly affectionate, however, and the two develop romantic interest for one another. Her mother disapproves of the relationship between them because the librarian does not meet her standards, but Bernice and her daughter maintain their bond throughout the story. "That there is never a single epiphany in this process is a credit to Lipman's craft," noted Chicago Tribune contributor Nina Burleigh. "The mother and daughter don't end up best friends, and they don't end up estranged. Instead they end up tolerating each other's differences—the way real families do." Michele Slung in the Washington Post called Then She Found Me a "tender, funny and ultimately wise account of an intimate struggle between two women who aren't fated to remain strangers anymore."

Another novel of reunion is My Latest Grievance. The narrator Frederica Hatch is a high-school student living on the cozy college campus where her parents teach psychology. Her somewhat mundane life in academe, as neither faculty nor student, is brightened by the arrival of a new residence hall mother who is quite the opposite of a typical academic. Laura Lee French is flashy and audacious and apparently on a clear course to trouble; she is, also, to Frederica's great surprise, her own father's ex-wife and cousin. Mayhem ensues as French breaches the peace of ivy-laced gentility and Frederica learns about the haphazard and sometimes hazardous world beyond the ivory tower. "As in previous novels," reported a Publishers Weekly contributor, "Lipman addresses sensitive issues … with delicacy and acerbity" and allows her young protagonist to learn important life lessons.

The novel, The Way Men Act, features a multitude of characters who reside in the small town of Harrow, Massachusetts. Centering on the life of a single floral designer, the book charts the woman's difficulties in pursuing a meaningful relationship. Noting that the book "proceeds like a tilt-a-whirl ride at the county fair, full of spins and wrenches and abrupt switches of direction," Boston Globe correspondent Michael Dorris reported that in The Way Men Act, Lipman "emerges as a full-fledged talent, a witty, compassionate chronicler of modern sensibility, wise without beating the reader over the head with her insights."

Lipman's next novel, Isabel's Bed, "is a delightful, gentle, knowing satire of writers, the publishing and entertainment industries, the art world, and the vagaries of love," according to Booklist contributor George Needham. In the novel, "Lipman takes on the question of how women and men, in and out of love and jail, should treat each other," commented Paul Kafka in the New York Times Book Review. The story showcases Harriet Mahoney, a forty-one-year-old aspiring writer who, after being dumped by her boyfriend of fourteen years, moves to Cape Cod to ghostwrite the life of Isabel Krug, the former mistress of an executive recently murdered by his wife. "Lipman has a genius all her own for offbeat pairings of women who engender a deliciously, uniquely feminine chemistry," wrote Glass. "Here, one is a repressed but lovable egghead, the other a garishly sexy but lovable narcissist. How such women negotiate the emotional Grand Canyon between them and share their vastly differing visions of love is the true grit of the story; the real romance is theirs." Glass further commented that the "narrative seemed sluggish at times" but nevertheless concluded: "Lipman makes us laugh out loud, if not, this time, till we cry." Kafka called the work "serious entertainment … alternately flirting with melodrama and pulling back from the form's seductive ease." In this "warm, affecting tale," observed Paula Chin in People, "the prose is spare and breezy, but there's wry wisdom beneath the chuckles."

The Pursuit of Alice Thrift takes place in and out of a Boston hospital. Alice, a hardworking surgical intern with little or no social grace, is swept off her feet by Ray, a tacky salesman with more social skills than scruples. Though she resists at first, lonely Alice eventually gives in to the man who will not give up. She marries Ray only to learn that the scoundrel already had another girlfriend all along. The marriage ends as abruptly as it began, and Alice is back to square one, but she carries with her a newfound wisdom and the potential for happiness. "That Lipman can make this story plausible, and tell it with humor, psychological insight and rising suspense, is a triumph," wrote a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called The Pursuit of Alice Thrift "a clever sweet tart, more tart than sweet."

When asked about the humor in her books and personal life in an interview following her fourth novel, The Inn at Lake Devine, Lipman responded to Boston Globe contributor John Koch: "I'm aiming for a certain wry tone, and sometimes I'm surprised that something I don't mean to be even wry strikes someone as funny…. I don't expect people to laugh out loud…. I think I'm considered witty by my friends." Lipman added: "In my family, it was important to be funny—I saved up anecdotes for the dinner table." In fact, The Inn at Lake Devine takes up the theme of Jewish humor in a Gentile environment, in this case a country inn in Vermont. Library Journal reviewer Molly Abramowitz found the novel "very funny … entertaining and thought-provoking."

Lipman once told CA: "I began writing fiction in an adult education workshop at Brandeis University in 1979, with no previous experience. A little over two years later, my first story 'Catering' was accepted by Yankee. I have now converted, happily, to writing only novels."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Antioch Review, spring, 1987, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 246.

Belles Lettres, January, 1996, Joan Mooney, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 12.

Booklist, April 15, 1990, review of Then She Found Me, p. 1608; February 1, 1992, Denise Blank, review of The Way Men Act, p. 1010; March 1, 1995, George Needham, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 1179; May 1, 1998, Margaret Flanagan, review of The Inn at Lake Devine, p. 1502.

Boston, August, 1987, Gail Banks, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 117; May, 1990, Katherine A. Powers, review of Then She Found Me, p. 89.

Boston Globe, March 1, 1992, Michael Dorris, review of The Way Men Act, p. B40; March 21, 1993, p. A16; March 5, 1995, p. 103; April 6, 1995, p. 61; December 31, 1995, p. 20; May 24, 1998, interview by John Koch, p. 10.

Christian Science Monitor, July 9, 1998, Merle Rubin, review of The Inn at Lake Devine, p. B7.

Cosmopolitan, March, 1992, Louise Bernikow, review of The Way Men Act, p. 26; March, 1995, Chris Chase, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 28.

Detroit News, October 23, 1991.

Entertainment Weekly, March 20, 1992, L.S. Klepp, review of The Way Men Act, p. 62; March 24, 1995, Kate Wilson, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 59; August 9, 1996, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 55; June 26, 1998, review of The Inn at Lake Devine, p. 119; July 24, 1998, p. 70.

Glamour, May, 1990, Laura Mathews, review of Then She Found Me, p. 210; March, 1992, Laura Mathews, review of The Way Men Act, p. 176; March, 1995, Laura Mathews, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 172.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 1987, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 11; February 1, 1990, review of Then She Found Me, p. 129; December 1, 1991, review of The Way Men Act, p. 4190; December 1, 1994, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 1565; April 1, 1998, review of The Inn at Lake Devine, p. 426; April 15, 2003, review of The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, p. 560; February 1, 2006, review of My Latest Grievance, p. 104.

Kliatt, May, 1993, review of The Way Men Act, p. 8.

Library Journal, February 15, 1987, Johanna Ezell, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 112; March 15, 1990, Andrea Caron Kempf, review of Then She Found Me, p. 113; December, 1991, Andrea Caron Kempf, review of The Way Men Act, p. 197; October 15, 1992, review of The Way Men Act, p. 128; February 1, 1995, Rebecca S. Kelm, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 100; February 1, 1998, Molly Abramowitz, review of The Inn at Lake Devine, p. 111; November 15, 1998, review of The Inn at Lake Divine, p. 124.

Los Angeles Times, April 28, 1991, review of Then She Found Me, p. 14; June 16, 1991, review of Then She Found Me, p. 10; April 3, 1992, p. E5; May 2, 1995, p. E7.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, April 28, 1991; June 16, 1991; March 28, 1993, review of The Way Men Act, p. 9.

New Yorker, July 16, 1990, review of Then She Found Me, p. 86.

New York Times Book Review, April 26, 1987, Sara Vogan, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 24; November 27, 1988, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 34; May 27, 1990, Randy Cohen, review of Then She Found Me, p. 5; May 5, 1991, review of Then She Found Me, p. 32; March 1, 1992, p. 14; April 12, 1992, Jill Eisenstadt, review of The Way Men Act, p. 16; February 7, 1993, review of The Way Men Act, p. 28; February 12, 1995, Paul Kafka, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 23; March 23, 1997; July 19, 1998, Lore Dickstein, review of The Inn at Lake Devine, p. 30.

People, June 25, 1990, Leah Rozen, review of Then She Found Me, p. 32; May 4, 1992, Leah Rozen, review of The Way Men Act, p. 29; March 27, 1995, Paula Chin, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 36.

Publishers Weekly, January 23, 1987, Sybil Steinberg, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 63; September 9, 1988, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 129; February 9, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of Then She Found Me, p. 44; February 22, 1991, review of Then She Found Me, p. 217; December 20, 1991, review of The Way Men Act, p. 65; January 11, 1993, review of The Way Men Act, p. 61; January 9, 1995, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 55; June 17, 1996, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 62; March 23, 1998, review of The Inn at Lake Devine, p. 75; March 10, 2003, review of The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, p. 50; January 9, 2006, review of My Latest Grievance, p. 29.

Quill and Quire, July, 1990, review of Then She Found Me, p. 59.

Rapport: Modern Guide to Books, Music, and More (annual), 1992, review of The Way Men Act, p. 39.

Red Cedar Review, March, 1995, interview by Tom Bissell, pp. 39-41.

San Francisco Chronicle, April 8, 1990.

Times Literary Supplement, February 12, 1993, Nicholas Clee, review of The Way Men Act, p. 22.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), May 15, 1990, Nina Burleigh, review of Then She Found Me; April 9, 1995, Julia Glass, review of Isabel's Bed, p. 3; September 8, 1996, p. 8.

Washington Post, April 24, 1990, Michele Slung, review of Then She Found Me; March 6, 1992, p. B2; April 28, 1995, p. D2.

Washington Post Book World, April 5, 1987, Alida Becker, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 6; October 30, 1988, review of Into Love and Out Again, p. 16; March 1, 1992, review of The Way Men Act, p. 12.