Witcover, Paul

PERSONAL: Born in Zurich, Switzerland; son of Jules Witcover (a political columnist). Education: Clarion Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop, Michigan State University, graduated 1980.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Eos, 10 E. 53rd St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10022. E-mail—stilskin@sff.net.

CAREER: Writer. Freelance editor and novelist.

WRITINGS:

Zora Neale Hurston (biography), Chelsea House (New York, NY), 1991.

Waking Beauty (novel), HarperPrism (New York, NY), 1997.

Tumbling After (novel), Eos (New York, NY), 2005.

Also creator, with Elizabeth Hand, of Anima comic-book series for DC Comics.

SIDELIGHTS: Paul Witcover knew from an early age that he wanted to become a writer, and his endeavors were strongly influenced by his parents; his father is political columnist Jules Witcover, and his mother was an English teacher and editor. A 1980 graduate of the renowned Clarion Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop, Witcover has worked as a freelance writer and editor. His first book, a biography of African-American author Zora Neale Hurston, was published in 1991.

Witcover's first fantasy novel, Waking Beauty, was conceived as a retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty from a feminist perspective. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called the book "rich and ambitious," adding that "this is a striking first novel, a find for those who want more than the same old fantasy worlds and comfortable adventures." Rambles.net contributor Donna Scanlon described Waking Beauty as "a lush and sensuous first novel … highly descriptive, emphasizing and appealing to the senses." In a Fantastic Metropolis online review, Jeff Topham wrote that "Waking Beauty is one of the most distinctive and meticulously-rendered fantastic visions of the [1990s]…, a violent and erotic reimagining of the story of Sleeping Beauty." He added, "Relentlessly ambitious and often strikingly beautiful, it's an imaginative achievement of wonderful originality and intensity."

On his official Web site, Witcover described his second novel, Tumbling After, as "a novel about growing up, about playing games, about what is and isn't real. It's a novel of sexual awakening and magical transformation." The novel involves two parallel storylines, one set in 1977 and involving a twelve-year-old boy who seemingly gains the ability to alter reality after a neartragic accident and the other set far in the future and involving a seventeen-year-old mutant caught in the battle between the "mutes" and normal humans. Washington Post contributor Bill Sheehan called Witcover "a gifted, fiercely original writer whose genre-bending fiction deserves the widest possible attention," and further commented: "Witcover has made something powerful and strange out of familiar materials. The story is dauntingly dense, though satisfying. The prose is clean and precise, lending an aura of understated authority to the entire enterprise." "It is a fully realized novel by a significant new voice," Sheehan added. "I hope it finds the audience it deserves." Jackie Cassada, in a review for Library Journal, remarked that Witcover "evokes the painful emotions of preadolescence and awakening adulthood in this cross-world fantasy that should appeal to fans of role-playing and general fantasy." A Publishers Weekly reviewer described Tumbling After as "compelling" and "a winning, entertaining cross-genre roll." Booklist reviewer Regina Schroeder found the book "a nifty take on parallel worlds and superhuman power" and "a ripping yarn with particular appeal to horror fans."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2005, Regina Schroeder, review of Tumbling After, p. 1276.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2005, review of Tumbling After, p. 26.

Library Journal, March 15, 2005, Jackie Cassada, review of Tumbling After, p. 75.

Publishers Weekly, January 20, 1997, review of Waking Beauty, p. 398; January 17, 2005, review of Tumbling After, p. 39.

Washington Post Book World, March 13, 2005, Bill Sheehan, review of Tumbling After, p. 13.

ONLINE

Fantastic Metropolis, http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/ (October 28, 2001), Jeff Topham, "Blood and Roses: A Reflection on Paul Witcover's Waking Beauty"; (June 19, 2005) Jeffrey Ford, "An Interview with Paul Witcover."

Paul Witcover Home Page, http://www.sff.net/people/stilskin (March 17, 2005).

Rambles.net, http://www.rambles.net/ (July 17, 2005), Donna Scanlon, review of Waking Beauty.