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Jennifer Egan

ジェニファー・イーガン

Jennifer Egan

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1962-09-07 （Chicago, Illinois, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Chicago (birthplace) → San Francisco (school/high school) → Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. (residence)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Journalist
Active Years
1994-
Affiliations
PEN America (former president), New York Public Library Cullman Center (fellow), St John's College, Cambridge (Honorary Fellow)
Memberships
PEN America
Influenced By
Marcel Proust, Writers of modernism and postmodernism
Influenced
Contemporary novelists and critics (subject of academic study)

Education

University of Pennsylvania
English literature
Degree: BA
Period: 1980年代
Country: United States
St John's College, Cambridge
Graduate studies
Degree: MA
Period: 1986–1988
Country: United Kingdom
Supported by a Thouron Award

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2011
Work: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Organization: Pulitzer Prize
Result: Won
National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
2010
Work: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Category: Fiction
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: Won
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
2010
Work: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Category: Fiction
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: Won
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
2011
Work: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Organization: PEN/Faulkner
Result: Shortlisted
British Book Awards (International Author of the Year)
2011
Category: International Author of the Year
Organization: British Book Awards
Result: Won
International Dublin Literary Award
2012
Work: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Organization: International Dublin Literary Award
Result: Shortlisted
Goodreads Choice Awards (nomination)
2017
Work: Manhattan Beach
Category: Historical Fiction
Organization: Goodreads
Result: Nominated
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction
2018
Work: Manhattan Beach
Category: Fiction
Organization: Carnegie Corporation / American Library Association
Result: Won
Walter Scott Prize
2018
Work: Manhattan Beach
Organization: Walter Scott Prize
Result: Shortlisted
Thouron Award
1986
Organization: Thouron Award
Result: Won
Guggenheim Fellowship
1996
Category: Fiction
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: Won
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: Won
Carroll Kowal Journalism Award
2002
Work: Cover story on homeless children
Organization: Carroll Kowal Journalism Award
Result: Won
Outstanding Media Award (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
2008
Work: Story on bipolar children
Organization: National Alliance on Mental Illness
Result: Won

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Invisible Circus

1994 Fiction (novel)

A novel following a young woman's journey through Europe in the 1970s and her search into family history.

Travel and wanderingFamily secretsPersonal growth
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Invisible Circus (2001)

Look at Me

2001 Fiction (novel)

A contemporary novel about appearance, identity, and family relationships.

IdentityFamilyMedia and self-image

The Keep

2006 Fiction (novel)

A psychological novel set in an isolated keep where past and present intersect.

MemoryIsolationFamily history

A Visit from the Goon Squad

2010 Fiction (experimental linked stories/novel)

A linked series of stories set partly in the music industry, exploring time and memory across generations; notable for experimental forms such as a chapter presented as a PowerPoint.

Time and memoryMusic and cultureTechnological change

Manhattan Beach

2017 Historical fiction

A historical novel set in wartime New York exploring a woman's coming-of-age and family bonds.

Life during warFemale agencyFamily relationships

The Candy House

2022 Fiction (with experimental elements)

A set of interrelated stories examining memory, privacy, and connection in the digital age.

Digital cultureShared memoryPrivacy

Bibliography

  • Emerald City (short story collection, 1993/1996)
  • The Invisible Circus (1994)
  • Look at Me (2001)
  • The Keep (2006)
  • A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)
  • Manhattan Beach (2017)
  • The Candy House (2022)
  • Short story 'Black Box' (2012, published via The New Yorker on Twitter)

Adaptations

  • Film adaptation of The Invisible Circus (2001)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Experimental and formally inventive stylePolyphony (multiple voices)Postmodern techniques
Recurring Motifs
Time and memoryMusicTechnology and mediaFamily and identity

Legacy

A writer whose experimental forms and treatment of time and memory have influenced contemporary American literature; widely recognized through major awards and academic study. A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize and other major honors and has become a subject of scholarly and cultural discussion.

Archives

  • New York Public Library (Cullman Center)

Quotes

  • “I wanted to avoid centrality. I wanted a lateral feeling, not a forward feeling. My ground rules were: every piece has to be very different, from a different point of view.”
    Source: Interview (excerpt) (2010)
  • “Music ended up being such an important part of the book. One thing that facilitates that kind of time travel is music.”
    Source: Interview (excerpt) (2010)

Trivia

  • While an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania she dated Steve Jobs; he installed a Macintosh in her bedroom.
  • A Visit from the Goon Squad includes experimental forms such as a chapter formatted as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
  • Served as president of PEN America from 2018 to 2020.
  • The short story 'Black Box' was published via The New Yorker's Twitter account.