Alice Hoffman
Author of Practical Magic
About the Author
Alice Hoffman, an American novelist and screenwriter, was born in New York City on March 16, 1952. She earned a B.A. from Adelphi University in 1973 and an M.A. in creative writing from Stanford University in 1975 before publishing her first novel, Property Of, in 1977. Known for blending realism show more and fantasy in her fiction, she often creates richly detailed characters who live on society's margins and places them in extraordinary situations as she did with At Risk, her 1988 novel about the AIDS crisis. Her other works include The Drowning Season, Seventh Heaven, The River King, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, The Ice Queen, and The Dovekeepers. Her book, The Third Angel, won the 2008 New England Booksellers' Award for fiction. Two of her novels, Practical Magic and Aquamarine, were made into films. She has also written numerous screenplays, including adaptations of her own novels and the original screenplay, Independence Day. Her title's The Museum of Exteaordinary Things, The Marriage of Opposites, Seventh Heaven, and The Rules of Magic made The New York Times Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Alice Hoffman
The Collected Novels Volume One (Property Of | The Drowning Season | Fortune's Daughter | At Risk) (2016) 28 copies
The Collected Novels Volume Two: The Foretelling, White Horses, Angel Landing, and Seventh Heaven (2018) 6 copies
Property Of / Second Nature 1 copy
The Witch of Truro 1 copy
livro licoes de magia 1 copy
Associated Works
The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them (2006) — Contributor — 389 copies
Who's Writing This? Notations on the Authorial I, with Self-Portraits {not Antæus} (1995) — Contributor — 72 copies
Cape Cod Stories: Tales from Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard (1996) — Introduction — 52 copies
The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook: A Collection of Stories with Recipes (2016) — Contributor — 18 copies
Amerika, Amerika bloemlezing — Contributor — 8 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1952-03-16
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
New York, New York, USA - Education
- Adelphi University (BA)
Stanford University (MA, creative writing) - Occupations
- novelist
short-story writer - Relationships
- Hoffman, Lisa (cousin)
- Organizations
- Hoffman Breast Center
Doubleday
Brandeis University - Agent
- Elaine Markson (Elaine Markson Agency)
Amanda Urban (ICM Partners) - Short biography
- Alice Hoffman is an American novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1995 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name. Many of her works fall into the genre of magic realism and contain elements of magic, irony, and non-standard romances and relationships.
Members
Reviews
The Probable Future: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's… by Alice Hoffman
Another delightful Alice Hoffman novel that combines the real world with a bit of magic. Just enough lore to puzzle the reader and enough reality to puzzle us even more. Could all this be true? Can a woman just appear in a town or a woman not feel pain, spot a liar, tell when someone is going to die? Alice Hoffman makes you believe it in a novel filled with imagery, history and the reality of teenage angst,mother and daughter disfunction, bad marriages and women working together.
A family of siblings with unusual gifts grow up and their gifts help and hurt them. Not my style of subject, but Hoffman is a good writer.
About 15 minutes into this audio book, I stopped the narration and double-checked that I had downloaded the correct book. "Faithful" was nothing at all like my last experience with Alice Hoffman -- [b:The Marriage of Opposites|23492741|The Marriage of Opposites|Alice Hoffman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438581390s/23492741.jpg|43082583], with its complexity and lyrical language. I thought for sure I had mistakenly clicked on the latest YA release. My screen confirmed that, indeed, this was Hoffman and that "Faithful" was a very different book than "Opposites."
Once I let go of my expectations for what this book was "supposed" to be, I found that I enjoyed and appreciated it. In this novel, a teen-aged Shelby is behind the wheel when a car accident leaves her best friend bedridden in a coma. We see Shelby's downward spiral into self-destruction and despair as a result of depression and survivor's guilt. Hoffman aptly captures not only Shelby's emotions, but the those of her parents as they watch their daughter punish herself for the accident.
While this book is not officially a YA novel, it definitely had that sort of feel about it, and those who don't care for that genre will likely not enjoy this book.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. While I was provided with a galley I chose to listen to an audio version, which was excellent.… (more)
Once I let go of my expectations for what this book was "supposed" to be, I found that I enjoyed and appreciated it. In this novel, a teen-aged Shelby is behind the wheel when a car accident leaves her best friend bedridden in a coma. We see Shelby's downward spiral into self-destruction and despair as a result of depression and survivor's guilt. Hoffman aptly captures not only Shelby's emotions, but the those of her parents as they watch their daughter punish herself for the accident.
While this book is not officially a YA novel, it definitely had that sort of feel about it, and those who don't care for that genre will likely not enjoy this book.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. While I was provided with a galley I chose to listen to an audio version, which was excellent.… (more)
Lists
Witchy Fiction (1)
To Read (1)
Legal Stories (1)
Magic Realism (9)
5 Best 5 Years (1)
Page Turners (1)
Eastern Europe (1)
A Novel Cure (1)
100 New Classics (1)
Judaism (1)
Autumn books (1)
Indie Next Picks (1)
Five star books (1)
Sense of place (1)
Which house? (1)
Female Author (2)
To Read (3)
Carole's List (5)
READ in 2023 (1)
Everand 2023 (1)
Jewish Books (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 68
- Also by
- 33
- Members
- 52,528
- Popularity
- #291
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1,953
- ISBNs
- 1,046
- Languages
- 20
- Favorited
- 197
