Emily Mitchell's stories have been published in Harper’s, Ploughshares, New England Review, and elsewhere. She teaches at the University of Maryland. Her novel The Last Summer of the World was published in 2007. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
"In this debut novel, the life of a celebrated artist is imagined
with the sensibility of a seasoned author…With a plot relentless in
its inevitability, and the language shifting from spare to lush,
Mitchell’s voice is refined and graceful depicting what is not: war
and the dissolution of a marriage."
*Providence Journal*
"Her story, written with grace and precision, doesn’t want for
scope, and Ms. Mitchell’s shrewd restraint lends her work a
concentrated power."
*New York Sun*
"Beautifully rendered."
*Salon*
"Finely wrought…rich in detail…Mitchell has a lyrical sensibility
and a glorious ability to write about art."
*Madison Capital Times*
"Dazzling…a devastating portrait of the insanity of war."
*Publishers Weekly (starred review)*
"Mitchell’s prose is engaging and spirited…A striking novel
highlighting the rich experience of artists in Europe in the early
1900s and the inner life of a conflicted individual."
*Library Journal*
"Mitchell vividly imagines the terror of these historic
dogfights…Enriching her intensely psychological tale with cameos of
Auguste Rodin and others. Mitchell evokes the spell of creativity
and the pain of rupture when following one’s vision severely
complicates relationships."
*Booklist*
"Mitchell has chosen an innovative and unusual narrative structure
of chronological fragmentation…Mitchell establishes a context for
individual photographs and deftly handles moments of personal
crisis in Steichen’s life and career…A novel in which the chaos and
fragmentation of war mirror the chaos and fragmentation of personal
relationships."
*Kirkus Reviews*
First-time novelist Mitchell pulls off the dazzling trick of allowing readers to see through the eyes of art-photography pioneer Edward Steichen in her excellent reconsideration of his life and art. This would be merely impressive if the book confined itself to the stormy end of Steichen's first marriage, a subtheme that gets its due and packs a psychological punch. Instead, Mitchell follows Steichen through his airborne reconnaissance work during WWI, providing a devastating portrait of the insanity of war in general and the Great War in particular. Throughout, individual photographs are described in detail, along with surprisingly rich narratives-some reconstructed, some imagined-filling in the stories behind the pictures. Most powerful are the descriptions of what Steichen saw from the air, such as his view of Americans chasing a group of Germans and killing them all, including one who tried to escape. The book offers up glimpses of Paris and the French countryside, including memorable scenes of Steichen's visit to his good friend and mentor, sculptor August Rodin, but in the end, this commanding novel is about the images one can never quite burn from memory. (June) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
"In this debut novel, the life of a celebrated artist is imagined
with the sensibility of a seasoned author...With a plot relentless
in its inevitability, and the language shifting from spare to lush,
Mitchell's voice is refined and graceful depicting what is not: war
and the dissolution of a marriage." -- Providence Journal
"Her story, written with grace and precision, doesn't want for
scope, and Ms. Mitchell's shrewd restraint lends her work a
concentrated power." -- New York Sun
"Beautifully rendered." -- Salon
"Finely wrought...rich in detail...Mitchell has a lyrical
sensibility and a glorious ability to write about art." -- Madison
Capital Times
"Dazzling...a devastating portrait of the insanity of war." --
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Mitchell's prose is engaging and spirited...A striking novel
highlighting the rich experience of artists in Europe in the early
1900s and the inner life of a conflicted individual." -- Library
Journal
"Mitchell vividly imagines the terror of these historic
dogfights...Enriching her intensely psychological tale with cameos
of Auguste Rodin and others. Mitchell evokes the spell of
creativity and the pain of rupture when following one's vision
severely complicates relationships." -- Booklist
"Mitchell has chosen an innovative and unusual narrative structure
of chronological fragmentation...Mitchell establishes a context for
individual photographs and deftly handles moments of personal
crisis in Steichen's life and career...A novel in which the chaos
and fragmentation of war mirror the chaos and fragmentation of
personal relationships." -- Kirkus Reviews
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