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Craig Nova

From the Author, on Trombone:

If I had to describe myself as a writer, I’d say that I get the biggest thrill out of setting up situations in which characters necessarily collide. In fact, I think that collision is really at the heart of all good fiction, whether it is physical or psychological, and of course the best is when the two variety of collisions happen at the same time. For instance, in Trombone, the collision is between a father, a son, and a Chinese gangster, not to mention the added one between father and son and a young woman.

As to why part of Trombone is set in Chinatown, in Los Angeles, I had some experience with it when I was growing up. I had a friend, a young man who was Chinese, and on Saturdays he used to take me to Chinatown and show me gambling parlors and point out gangsters, all of which seemed exotic to me, and, in fact, still does. Also, on these Saturdays we used to go see Chinese movies, which I recall as being horror movies, or a variety of movie that scared my friend, although I understood none of what was going on, since the movies were not dubbed, and if they had subtitles, they were in another Asian language aside from the one that the actors were speaking. The terror of these films had to do with a mythology I also didn’t understand, but I know that they scared my friend to the point of panic. His fear infected me, although I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

As far as the arson part of the book was concerned, when I was first out of school in New York, I had a job managing a small real estate empire, and I was told once that there were people, carters mostly, who would for a very small sum of money be willing to make a building disappear. In fact, I was told not to complain about a particular building around these guys, since they might think I was asking them to do a job. Every now and then, when I was working in real estate, I would see in the paper that a building had burned down, obviously done by a pro, and after awhile I heard how this is done. Once I became a kind of student of technique, I should have known that sooner or later I was going to write a book about it.

Of course I have always been interested in music. The trombone often appears in movies as a comic instrument, but the truth is that it can be profoundly beautiful.

Bibliography

Hardcover Novels:
Wetware, Shaye Areheart Books, Winter, 2002
The Universal Donor, Houghton-Mifflin, spring, 1997
The Book Of Dreams, Houghton-Mifflin, spring, 1994
Trombone, Grove-Weidenfeld, spring, 1992
Tornado Alley, Delacorte Press, 1989
The Congressman’s Daughter, Seymour Lawrence/Delacorte Press, 1986
The Good Son, Seymour Lawrence/Delacorte Press, 1982
Incandescence, Harper & Row, 1979
The Geek, Harper & Row, 1975
Turkey Hash, Harper & Row, 1972

Hardcover Autobiograhpies:
Brook Trout and the Writing Life, Lyons Press, fall, 1999

Paperback:
Wetware, Vintage, 2003
Universal Donor, Norton, 1998
Trombone, Ballantine, 1994
Tornado Alley, Delta, 1990
The Congressman’s Daughter, Delta, 1989
The Good Son, Delta 1989
Incandescence, Delta, 1989
The Geek, Delta, l989
Turkey Hash, Delta, 1989
The Good Son, Dell 1983
Incandescence, Dell, 1983
The Geek, Dell, 1983
Turkey Hash, Dell, 1983

Shorter Fiction:
“The Prince,” Esquire (and in German Esquire)
“The Host,” Paris Review
“Another Drunk Gambler,” Paris Review

Short Fiction in Anthologies:
“The Prince,” The Best American Short Stories of 1987, Houghton Mifflin, 1988
“Another Drunk Gambler,” The Paris Review Anthology, Norton, 1990

Books in Translation:
In France:
The Universal Donor (Albin Michele, 1998)
Farce Amere (Turkey Hash), (Quai Voltaire, 1991)

In Germany:
Schlangengift (The Universal Donor), (Rowholt, 1998)
Der Tag Des Elefanten (The Book of Dreams), (Rowholt, fall, 1996)
Das Licht uber Yucca Flats (Trombone), (Claassen, 1994)
Tornado Alley (Claassen, 1990)
Die Tochter des reichen Mann (The Congressman’s Daughter), (Claassen, 1987)
Der Gute Sohn, (The Good Son), (Claassen, 1985)

German Paperback Editions:
Tornado Alley (Rowholt, 1996)

Der Tag Des Elefanten (The Book of Dreams), (Rowholt, 1996)
Das Licht uber Yucca Flats (Trombone), (Rowohlt, 1994)
Die Tochter des reichen Mann (The Congressman’s Daughter), Rowohlt, 1987)
Der Gute Sohn, (The Good Son), (Rowohlt, 1985)

In Italy:
Il viale de Tornadi (Tornado Alley), (DeAgostini, 1990)

Italian Book Club Edition:
Il viale de Tornadi (Tornado Alley) (Main Selection), Euro Club, 1990

In Sweden:
Kongressmans Dotter, Tidens, 1986
En God Son, Tidens, 1983

Swedish Book Club Editions:
Kongressmans Dotter (Main Selection), Bra Becker, 1986
En God Son (Main Selection), Bra Becker, 1983

In Brazil:
A Filhado Deputado (The Congressman’s Daughter), Record, 1987

In Israel:
The Universal Donor, Kinneret, 2000
The Congressman’s Daughter, Zmora Bitan, 1990

In Denmark:
Trombone, Forum Publishers Ltd., 1993

In Britain
The Congressman’s Daughter, Bantam U.K., 1987
The Good Son, The Bodley Head, 1983
Incandescence, Aidan Ellis, 1980
The Geek, Aidan Ellis, 1976
Turkey Hash, Aidan Ellis, 1975

British Paper Back Edition:
The Congressman’s Daughter, Corgi, 1987

American Book Club Edition:
Tornado Alley, Book Of The Month Club Quality Paperback Book Club, 1990

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Screen Writing Credits

The Good Son, for Behaviour
The Universal Donor, for Behaviour
Fathers and Sons, treatment for Touchstone films
Travelers, treatment for Amblin Entertainment

Prizes, Awards, Grants

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award in Literature
Guggenheim Fellowship
Harper-Saxton Prize
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1971, 1975, 1985
Creative Artists Public Service Fellowship

Literary Representation

Peter Matson
Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.
65 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012

(212) 780-6050

Books By Craig Nova

August 2002

Trombone

by Craig Nova