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Indiana Newspaper Features Novelist & Prof. Chris White

Indiana Newspaper Features Novelist & Prof. Chris White

April 30, 2018

"Certain parts of this novel have been in my consciousness or on certain pieces of paper for probably like 18 years," Chris White tells Indiana's Bloomington Herald-Times of her new novel, The Life List of Adrian Mandrick.  The newspaper features White, professor of English at DePauw University, noting, "One of the seeds that grew into White’s debut novel was a conversation with a stranger on a plane. At the time, White knew little about birding, and the discussion would lead to her making connections with real-life birders to fill in the gaps. The stranger told her a story about a man who was on a trip looking for a particular bird and had his wife with him."

"He stopped for gas and left her at the gas station," White said. "There was just so much in that for me… the idea of this obsession and devotion. Sort of forgetfulness and focus all in the same character."

Jenny Porter Tilley writes, "Addiction can hurt families and cause those we love to let us down. But so can healthier obsessions. In Chris White’s The Life List of Adrian Mandrick, the title character, an anesthesiologist with extensive knowledge of pain medications, struggles to balance his family life with both his addiction to pills and his addiction to identifying and cataloging rare species of birds."

Her recently released novel is a story that went through several drafts over the course of two decades."

The article points out that White, who is currently on sabbatical, is "gathering material for her next book."

Access the piece at the paper's website.

Professor White's book, which was released April 17, has been praised in Indianapolis Monthly, is listed among "The Best New Books of April 2018" by the Chicago Review of Books, and in a Library Journal starred review, Andrea Tarr wrote, "This engaging, unusual novel successfully combines the best elements of a psychological portrait, a travel adventure, and a suspenseful mystery ... The author, an award-winning playwright and screenwriter, deftly pulls out all the stops in this swift and disturbing, dramatic look at confronting fear and personal failures." (at right: Chris White at a New York University reading/book signing event last week)

An award-winning playwright and screenwriter, White holds an M.F.A. in dramatic writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Her plays have been produced nationally and internationally, with Rhythms winning the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play.

Source: Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times

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