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Pamela Erens

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.pamelaerens.com

Twitter

@ErensPamela

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Influences

John Cheever, Eudora Welty, George Eliot, Jane Bowles, James Salter

Member Since

June 2007

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Pamela's fifth book, MIDDLEMARCH AND THE IMPERFECT LIFE, out April 2022, is part of Ig Publishing's Bookmarked series on books that have shaped an author's writing and life.

Her previous book, her first for children, was published in June 2021. MATASHA (igKids) is for readers ages 10 to 14. The novel received a starred Kirkus review, and Meg Wolitzer in the New York Times called it "thoroughly winning.... The many pleasures of this novel include its empathy and poker-faced wit, and the charms of its main character."

Apart from these, Pamela has published three novels for adults. The most recent, ELEVEN HOURS, was brought out by Tin House Books (US) and Atlantic Books (UK) in 2016 and by Keter (Israel) in 2017.

ELEVEN HOURS was named a Best Pamela's fifth book, MIDDLEMARCH AND THE IMPERFECT LIFE, out April 2022, is part of Ig Publishing's Bookmarked series on books that have shaped an author's writing and life.

Her previous book, her first for children, was published in June 2021. MATASHA (igKids) is for readers ages 10 to 14. The novel received a starred Kirkus review, and Meg Wolitzer in the New York Times called it "thoroughly winning.... The many pleasures of this novel include its empathy and poker-faced wit, and the charms of its main character."

Apart from these, Pamela has published three novels for adults. The most recent, ELEVEN HOURS, was brought out by Tin House Books (US) and Atlantic Books (UK) in 2016 and by Keter (Israel) in 2017.

ELEVEN HOURS was named a Best Book of 2016 by NPR, The New Yorker, Kirkus, Literary Hub, Entropy, and the Irish Independent. It received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and was lauded by publications ranging from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to specialized literary sites such as Book Riot and The Millions.

Pamela's second novel, THE VIRGINS (Tin House, 2013), was a New York Times Book Review and Chicago Tribune Editors' Choice and was named a Best Book of 2013 by The New Yorker, The New Republic, Library Journal and Salon. The novel was a finalist for the John Gardner Book Award for the best book of fiction published in 2013.

A UK edition (John Murray) of THE VIRGINS appeared in 2014, and a German one C.H. Beck) in 2015.

In 2014, Tin House Books reissued Pamela's debut novel, THE UNDERSTORY (Ironweed Press, 2007), a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.

Pamela is the recipient of 2015 fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and Wesleyan Writers Conference, and a 2014 fellowship from the Sewanee Writers' Conference. Her short fiction, reviews, and essays have appeared in a wide variety of literary, cultural, and mainstream publications, including Virginia Quarterly Review, Slate, Tin House, Los Angeles Review of Books, Aeon, The Millions, The New York Times, Salon, Elle, Vogue, and O, the Oprah Magazine. For many years Pamela was an editor at Glamour magazine.

"Everyone who has the good fortune to pick up one of Erens' three novels becomes a fan. Whether writing about teenagers at boarding school (The Virgins), two mothers struggling together through labor (Eleven Hours), or a loner at the end of his tether (The Understory), Erens has a gift for making you want to spend time in her characters' company. Then you want to scout her other fans to discuss your good fortune of discovering her talents." — Reader's Digest, "23 Contemporary Writers You Should Have Read By Now" (2020) ...more

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Pamela Erens’s books

Average rating: 3.62 · 4,650 ratings · 741 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	Eleven Hours 3.64 avg rating — 2,359 ratings — published 2016 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Virgins 3.49 avg rating — 1,844 ratings — published 2013 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Understory 3.93 avg rating — 343 ratings — published 2007 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Matasha 4.28 avg rating — 65 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Middlemarch and the Imperfect Life: Bookmarked 4.36 avg rating — 28 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Why I Like This Story by Jackson R. Bryer (editor), Diana Wagman (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Doris Betts (Contributor) 3.48 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mourners by Chanelle Benz, Pamela Erens (Goodreads Author) (Foreword) 4.60 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fight for freedom: A slave girl's escape really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1977 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Die Unber??hrten by Pamela Erens (2015-01-06) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Literary Review: Love and Loss, Summer 2001 (vol. 44 / 4) by Kate Blackwell, Gabriel Brownstein (Goodreads Author), Pamela Erens (Goodreads Author) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Pamela’s Recent Updates

Pamela rated a book it was amazing Half-Lives by Lynn Schmeidler	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Lynn Schmeidler has a unique voice and a unique imagination. The world you step into in these stories is both like and radically unlike our own, in the most wonderful ways. HALF-LIVES reminds me somewhat of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a book that delighted ...more
Jun 06, 2024 06:49PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Half-Lives by Lynn Schmeidler. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Half-Lives by Lynn Schmeidler <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Pamela rated a book it was amazing Seconds by Claudia Putnam (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Excellent. A deceptively understated exploration of privilege and violence--and also of violence as a universal human temptation. There are hidden explosives here that detonate before you fully realize it. Masterfully done. I love books in which so m ...more
Nov 02, 2023 11:50AM · 2 likes · like · see review
Pamela rated a book it was amazing I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
After her phenomenal 2018 novel THE GREAT BELIEVERS (which was a finalist for, and should have won, the Pulitzer Prize), it's astonishing that Rebecca Makkai has done it again. I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU, while completely different from THE GREAT ...more
Mar 08, 2023 04:49PM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Pamela Erens (?)

“In the spring and summer I watched my plants flower, but it was, perhaps, in winter that I loved them best, when their skeletons were exposed. Then I felt they had more to say to me, were not simply dressing themselves for the crowds. Stripped of their leaves, their identities showed forth stark, essential.”
― Pamela Erens, The Understory

tags: flowers, layers, plants, seasons, winter

8 likes

“Writers know all the good reasons for subjecting their work to a sharp trim. Early drafts are notorious for repetition, indirection and overdevelopment of the trivial.”
― Pamela Erens

tags: revision, writing-process

4 likes

“In my experience, cutting back is the crucial act that allows the vitality, precision and emotional heart of a piece of writing to emerge.”
― Pamela Erens

tags: revision

3 likes

See all Pamela Erens's quotes »

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