Anthony Giardina papers

Anthony Giardina (1950- ), American novelist and short story writer, playwright, and college professor of creative writing, was born in Waltham, MA, a western suburb of Boston. His parents were Italian immigrants. His father worked as a salesman to move the family from a working class neighborhood to a middle class area. This upward transition, set in the '50s and '60s context, had a profound impact on Giardina, as reflected in his writing. He commented in an interview, "I think for writers the ages of 7 or 8 to 15 are the time when your senses are out like mad. And then as puberty hits and other things happen you close down a little bit. But those years, if you are going to be a writer those are the years when you are doing all your absorbing." The atmosphere and influence of this era are clear in A Boy's Pretensions (1988) and Recent History (2001).

Giardina graduated with a BA in 1973 from Fordham University in the Bronx, where he studied theater and acting. His play Living at Home was produced in 1977 and in 1979 became his first publication. In 1984, he published his first novel, Men With Debts. While he worked on writing a second novel, Giardina took a teaching post at Mount Holyoke and moved his family to Northampton, MA. He reflects on his experiences there in an unpublished essay entitled "Pictures from an Institution: On Being a Man Teaching Women," which was commissioned by Harper's magazine but never run there. He also drew much of the inspiration for his play Black Forest (1994) from that time. Although he left Mount Holyoke in 1995 he continues as a regular Visiting Professor at the Michener Center at the University of Texas, Austin and serves occasionally as visiting professor at other universities, including the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the University of Rochester.

As of 2009, Giardina is the author of four published novels and a short story collection, twelve produced plays, more than fifteen short stories, over twenty short pieces of nonfiction, and several book reviews. Giardina's novels have been published by Knopf, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux. His short stories and articles have appeared in Harper's, Esquire, GQ, New York Magazine, and other publications. About Giardina's work, a reader commented, "These are some of the best anatomies of relationships I've ever read. " Another offered, "He achieves a kind of beauty, especially in the descriptions of the aching between people to communicate. " Giardina's award-winning plays have been produced in New York at the Manhattan Theater Club and Playwrights Horizons. Other venues which have run his plays include Seattle Repertory, Yale Repertory, the Long Wharf in New Haven, and the Cleveland Playhouse.

Across genres, Giardina's pen captures his keen and unflinching eye for the nuances of human nature and interactions. His writing often focuses on middle-class angst and depicts aspects of modern detachment. Reflecting his upbringing, Giardina often deals with issues of switching social strata (mainly transitioning from working to middle class) and the role ethnic and social backgrounds play in human development. In a spirit of interpretation and understanding, free of moral judgment, Giardina raises philosophical concerns around many aspects of modern society - sexuality, gender, marriage, children, work, and individuality.

Giardina's novel Recent History (2001) received wide critical acclaim that built on reception of his earlier novels to bring him attention as a promising current American writer. His play Custody of the Eyes (2006) also received recognition for its unique perspective on the Catholic Church. Three of his works have been published in Great Britain as well as the United States; his collection of short stories, The Country of Marriage (1998), and his novel, Recent History, were both particularly well received there. His most recent novel, White Guys (2006) was featured among The Washington Post's "Best Books of 2006" and additionally received many favorable reviews. Stephen Amidon wrote, for The Washington Post, "Novels chronicling yuppie angst are thick on the vine, but few writers have charted the move from working class to the gilded suburbs with such evocative precision."

Giardina usually alternates his time between focusing on his writing and serving as a guest professor; in Fall 2009 he taught at the University of Texas, Austin. For the 2010-2011 school year, he will be the Drew Professor of Creative Writing at Smith College.

Selected Bibliography of Published and Produced Works:

Novels and Short Story Collections

Norumbega Park: A Novel. (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011)

White Guys: A Novel. (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006)

Recent History: A Novel. (New York: Random House, 2001)

The Country of Marriage. (New York: Random House, 1998)

A Boy's Pretensions. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988)

Men With Debts. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1984)

Plays

Custody of the Eyes. (originally Lightly Built Bridges). (Cleveland: Cleveland Playhouse, 2006; published by Broadway Play Publishing, 2008).

Black Forest. (Seattle: Seattle Repertory Theater, 1994; New Haven: Long Wharf Theater, 2000; published by Broadway Play Publishing, 2008).

Jay. (South Hadley, MA: Mount Holyoke College, 1993).

The Beach. (Eugene O'Neill Center, Waterford, CT: National Playwrights Conference, 1988; New Haven: Yale Repertory Theater, 1989; published by Samuel French, 1991).

Discovered. (Seattle: Seattle Repertory Theater, 1985).

Scenes from La Vie de Boheme. (New York: Manhattan Theater Club, 1982).

The Child. (Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1981).

Moby Dick. (Broadcast by Masterpiece Radio Theater, 1980).

An American Tragedy. (Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1980).

The Past.(Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1978; New York: 18th St. Playhouse, 1982.)

Trappers. (Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1978).

Living At Home. (Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1977; Provincetown, MA, 1977: Provincetown Playhouse; New York: Playwrights Horizons, 1978; published by Dramatists Play Service Inc., 1979).

History. (New York: Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1977).