Nicole Krauss Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

An American award-winning author, Nicole Krauss has been writing for quite some time now, with her books being greatly received by both critics and the general public alike. A major part of the literary establishment, she’s made a vastly influential name for herself, as she both writes and tours the circuit. Featured in a number of prestigious publication, she’s respected by both her many peers and contemporaries for her unique and perceptive insight.

Early and Personal Life

Born in 1974 on the 18th of August, she was brought up in the area of Manhattan in New York City, living in Long Island. With a lifelong affinity with the written word, she started fully writing when she was just a teenager and has kept at it ever since. With an American Jewish father and a British Jewish mother, she grew up with a rich and varied cultural history, something which has heavily influenced her writing ever since.

Educated at Stanford University, she enrolled there in 1992, during which time she met the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky. Over the course of three years. he then proceeded to assist her with her poetry, helping her learn the art of the craft. Later, in 1996, she went on to study at Oxford University after being awarded a Marshall Scholarship to go there.

When Brodsky died she went on to produce a documentary based on his life three years later in 1999 for the BBC Radio 3. She would also go on to gain a master’s in art history in London from the Courtauld Institute, whereby she focused on 17th Century Dutch Art. It was after this that she soon went on to create an impressive and highly influential writing career for herself.

Still writing to this very day, she continues to put out work, as well as tour, from her home in Brooklyn in New York. Previously married to the author Jonathan Safran Foer, they had two children together called Cy and Sasha. With plenty more books set to be released on the horizon, she will continue expanding upon her legacy for some time to come.

Writing Career

It was in 2002 that she published her first novel, ‘Man Walks Into A Room’, thus making her initial impact upon the literary scene. Gaining critical acclaim and plaudits she was soon well on her way to making a name for herself within the industry. Laying out a lot of her themes and ideas, she established who she was and what she was about with a clear and confident first novel.

She soon followed this up in 2004 with another novel, this time titled ‘The History of Love’, which also gained a large amount of positive attention. Set to be released as a film in 2016, the director slated for the film was Radu Mihaileanu, a film that was also fairly well received. This then paved the way for a lot more attention to be heaped on the author, from the time of the books release to the film itself.

Over the course of her writing career, she has also managed to garner a huge amount of awards as well. First receiving a nomination for the Los Angeles Times Book Award back when her debut novel was released, she also gained praise from fellow writer Susan Sontag. Her third novel, Great House, also managed to gain a National Book Award for Fiction back in 2010, along with being short-listed in 2011 for the Orange Prize.

Not just a fiction writer, she has also published numerous essays in the past, as well as reporting for various publications too. Creating pieces on artists such as the painter Philip Guston, she has made a name for herself as a scholar in art history as well. Producing her documentary for the radio too, she quickly positioned herself as one of the foremost leading voices and authorities in the industry.

With more books set to follow, she has already signed book deals to get her future releases published. Planning to continue with her short stories and her novels, there’s plenty more works to come yet from her as an author. Showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, her writing career grows from strength-to-strength and will carry on into the foreseeable future.

Man Walks Into A Room

Originally published in 2002 through the Anchor Books publishing label, this was the novel that introduced Nicole Krauss to a mainstream audience. Setting up a lot of her themes and ideas, it was a stand-alone title which helped build the template for a lot of what was to follow. It also managed to gain the attention of the critical establishment as well, garnering much acclaim upon its initial release.

Starting out with a highly popular professor from Columbia as its leading protagonist, it sees Samson Greene found lost in the desert. Wandering with no memory of who he is or was, he’s lost all his memory since he was twelve due to a brain tumor. With the tumor soon removed he still has to fit back into his old life, but he has no memory since being twelve years of age, so everything is essentially new to him. Will he be able to get his old life back? How will he re-learn everything? What happens when a man walks into a room?

Great House

Brought out in 2010 on the 12th of October, this was initially released through the W.W. Norton and Company publishing label. With it being her third novel to be released, it shows a clearly more confident writer at the peak of her career. Another stand-alone book again, it manages to capture the essence of her subject matter perfectly through her ever evocative and insightful prose.

Setting up a train of events is one desk that has a vast and extensive history behind it, as it contains all of the secrets of those it passes through. From an American novelist writing at it for many years to a poet who disappeared under the Pinochet regime, it holds a history unlike any other. When the supposed daughter of the poet turns up at the novelist’s house looking to claim the desk everything is then set in motion. Will the secrets behind the desk come out? Where does the desk truly belong? What will happen in the great house?

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