I blogged about Hilary Thayer Hamann‘s fantastic debut novel a few weeks ago for our What We’re Reading Wednesday series and promised a Q&A with the author on BookPage.com. I’m happy to say now that the Q&A‘s up, and it provides a fascinating look at how authors make choices about their writing, and why Anthropology of an American Girl is such a special book.
Briefly, the book is a coming-of-age story about Eveline Auerbach, a teen girl from East Hampton. Much of the book details her friendships and relationships with men as she falls into a passionate, painful and even obsessive kind of love with Harrison Rourke, her high school’s visiting drama coach.
Hamann
You could find out what happens next if you enter to win a copy of the book. To enter, read the Q&A and leave a note in the comments: What’s the subject of Hamann’s next book?
Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
There are some people who would never, who could never forsake a friend. Many of the characters in Anthropology possess this quality to varying degrees, but no one so much as Rob Cirillo. Rob is loving, but beyond that, his love is authentic. As he himself might say, it gets through. It reads as honest because he is fearless, and by that I mean, transparent in expressing affection. He is not secretive or self-protective; he doesn’t hide anything or have anything over on anyone. He is unafraid of being hurt by rejection, because in his mind, his love is enough. It’s a matter of confidence.
What is the essence of a character? There are myriad ways to reply, but to continue on this theme, let’s say confidence. I don’t just mean confidence as a character living out his or her life in the text, but as he or she relates to the writer outside the text. The characters I like best are the ones I have confidence in, the reliable ones, the ones that can help me do my job of conveying meaning, moving the story. Ironically, if they can remain true to the convictions you have assigned, they become less predictable, more interesting. They write themselves. In my novel, I would say Evie, Jack and Rob wrote themselves.
I’ve read several reviews of this book already & it sounds like it needs to be added to my list of “reads”.
Briefly, the book is a coming-of-age story about Eveline Auerbach, a teen girl from East Hampton and her relationships with men. Sounds like an interesting novel.
What’s the subject of Hamann’s next book? a story about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s
Sounds interesting even though it is not the type of book I would think to pick up on my own. Am adding to my tbr list.
Hilary Hamann’s book is about teen Eveline Auerbach’s relationship with drama coach Harrison Rourke, among other men.
Hamann’s next book is about the experiences of a Vietman veteran as he returns home. She sounds like an interesting author and I’d love to win a copy of her book!
It is a story about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s dealing with a Vietnam veteran who returns home emotionally and physically ruined by his experience.
Her next book is about a family in the Bronx in the 1960′s who are dealing with a vetern who has returned home ruined by his experiences in Vietnam
This Anthropology… sounds like a really good book, I would love to read it whether I win it or not. And the 60′s, The Bronx and a Vietnam Vet…sounds interesting as well, I’ll be looking forward to getting my review on it!
it’a a book about a family set in the Bronx in the 60′s. About a guy back from Vietnam ruined who eventually finds love.
An extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s. The focus is a troubled VietNam vet who is saved by an extraordinary romance.
I was just out of high school in 1959, so this sounds so interesting to me, can’t wait to read it!! Anthropology is already on my list.
Set in the 1960s a story about a family in the Bronx
The next book is about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960′s
Her next book is set in the 1960′s and is about an extended family living in the Bronx during that time
Her next book concerns an extended family living in the Bronx during the 1960′s which sounds captivating.
Her next book will be about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s. Sounds interesting.
Hamann’s next book is about an extended family in the Bronx in the 1960s.
A romance set over another cultural exploration with an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s.
What’s the subject of Hamann’s next book? It will be set in the 1960s and focus on a Vietnam veteran coming home and their extended family in the Bronx.
Anthropology of a American Girl is going on my To Read list!
It will be set in the 60′s, the story of a Viet Nam vet returning home to the Bronx. I can’t wait to read this book.
It is about an extended family in the Bronx during the 1960′s.
next book about family in the bronx set in the 60′s. I will be adding these books to my list of next reads.
Hilary’s next book will bring her romance with a vietnam vet into focus as they both discover how to communicate and coexhist in the Bronx in the 1960′s.
About an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s.
Please enter me to win. Her next book is about a Vietnam vet who returns home to the Bronx in the 1960′s and is redeemed by a strange woman he meets.
The next book will be about a family from the Bronx set in 1960s. The a veteran returning from Vietnam who is emotionally (physically?) ruined and the effects it has on his life and possibly his family. The man will find love with a “strange and extraordinary woman”. The book will be a romantic story as well as “cultural exploration” and sounds very fascinating.
Her next book will be a story about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s. Her idea is to write about a Vietnam veteran who returns home emotionally and physically ruined by his experience, but is eventually reconstituted through his relationship with a strange and extraordinary woman.
Haman is now writing about a family who lives in the Bronx. It is set during the Vietnam war. A veteran comes home scarred by the war but receives help through his relationship with an unusual woman.
Her next book is about an extended family from the Bronx. A Vietnam vet returns home and finds love with a woman who helps him to deal with his war experiences.
back to the 60′s ? it was a very good decade…will enjoy reading this book…
An extended family in the 1060′s in the Bronx.
Sounds like a must-read!
The next book is going to be about a Vietnam Vet. He returns home where he must adjust and readjust to different situations. Oddly, a strange woman will help him overcome the obstacles.
A coming of age love/obsession story! Love it!
Hamann’s plan for her next book is to tell the story of an extended family living in the Bronx during the ’60′s and the return of a veteran of VietNam.
Hamann’s next book sounds like a cultural/generational story about experience, identity, and love. I can’t wait to add her to my favorites list!
Her next book is about a family in the Bronx and the return of a veteran from Vietnam.
I can’t wait to read this! The author’s next book will tackle the plight of a broken Vietnam veteran who returns home and makes a new relationships with an interesting woman.
The subject of Hamann’s next book is an extended family living in the Bronx in the 1960s.
The subject of her next novel: an extended family in the Bronx dealing with the return of a Vietnam vet.
family of a vietnam vet in the 60′s in the bronx. i’ll read that!!
“I am currently writing a story about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s.”
Which does not sound quite as interesting to me as the current novel.
Hamann’s next book is about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s. It involves a Vietnam veteran who becomes whole again because of his love for a woman. It sounds great!
about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s. My idea is to write about a Vietnam veteran who returns home emotionally and physically ruined by his experience, but is eventually reconstituted through his relationship with a strange and extraordinary woman.
A family in the Bronx in the 60′s. Sounds like something I would enjoy since I grew up in the 60′s.
I always look forward to an author’s next book when I have liked the current one.
The subject of Hamann’s next book is an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s. Her idea is to write about a Vietnam veteran who returns home emotionally and physically ruined by his experience.
Sounds like a great book.
Hamann’s next book will have a 1960s Bronx setting about a Vietname vet returning home to his extended family with “baggage” from the war and how his life changes when he meets an extraordinary woman.
A story set in the 60′s about a family that lives in the Bronx.
Her next book is about an extended family set in the Bronx in the 1960s. A Vietnam veteran who returns home emotionally and physically ruined by his experience, but is eventually reconstituted through his relationship with a strange and extraordinary woman.
Her next book is set in the 60s…an extended family of a Viet Nam vet. The setting is the Bronx.
Thanks for the giveaway.
Her next book is set in the 1960s in the Bronx. It is about an emotionally scarred Vietnam veteran returning home.
This sounds very interesting and her next book is located in the Bronx in the ’60 of a Vietnam vet and his return home and recovery. Hope to read it soon. Would love to win this one too!