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Maggie Shipstead

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Born

Mission Viejo, CA, The United States

Website

http://www.maggieshipstead.com

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MaggieShipstead

Genre

Fiction

Member Since

November 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/maggieshipstead

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Maggie Shipstead is the New York Times-bestselling author of the novels Astonish Me and Seating Arrangements, winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the L.A. Times Book Prize for First Fiction. A third novel, Great Circle, will be published in May 2021. She is a graduate of Harvard and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford, and the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Her writing has appeared in many places, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Departures, Condé Nast Traveler, Outside, The Best American Short Stories, and The Best American Sports Writing. In 2012 and 2018, she was a National Magazine Award fin ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Where in the world do you get your ideas for your characters? In both of your books --you've characters a reader wants to 'spank'. How do you write such wonderful books with snotty characters? What's your hidden talent?

Maggie Shipstead Thanks, Elyse! You know, one thing I've learned since publishing Seating Arrangements is that readers will perceive your characters in all kinds of un…moreThanks, Elyse! You know, one thing I've learned since publishing Seating Arrangements is that readers will perceive your characters in all kinds of unexpected ways. It's really interesting! I don't think about likeability when I'm writing; I think more about if I'm interested in the character. (Not that my being interested in a character means everyone else will be or should be.) Seating Arrangements exists only because I had a lot of chemistry with the character of Winn Van Meter. I felt like I got him and like I had lots to say about him and lots of things I wanted to happen to him. I have a lot of affection for him! He's really my favorite character in that book.

In Astonish Me, some of the characters' self-absorption seemed to me like a natural by-product of dedicating their lives to a pursuit that requires you to stare into a mirror for hours every day, to focus so intensely on your body, to fight your way through hordes of competitors all in hopes of having a moment of glory onstage, being applauded. Not to say that there aren't plenty of well-adjusted, giving, generous ballet dancers--there certainly are. But a novel about them would be so bland!(less)

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I love your novels, thanks for writing! I would like to know how you come up with the characters? When reading your books, it seems like you can describe what men and women of different ages are thinking and feeling so incredibly well. How did you gain the ability to imagine this? Is it something that you just understand or is it something you deliberately studied?

Maggie Shipstead Thanks, Susanna! I'm glad you feel that way about my characters, although I don't have a very good answer. To a certain extent, being able to write fr…moreThanks, Susanna! I'm glad you feel that way about my characters, although I don't have a very good answer. To a certain extent, being able to write from a range of perspectives is something that comes relatively naturally to me, but it's also something I work hard at and think about a lot. For me, character is more difficult to figure out than, say, structure or language, so my revisions are often about adding depth and life to my characters. When I'm struggling, I often have to stop and focus very deliberately--like, eyes closed--on who this person is and what they would really say or do in a given moment. When I read a book or story I admire, I always try to identify what the author has done to create vibrant characters. Then I try to mimic their method.(less)

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Maggie Shipstead’s books

Average rating: 3.81 · 129,920 ratings · 16,182 reviews · 20 distinct works • Similar authors

	Great Circle 4.10 avg rating — 79,500 ratings — published 2021	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
	Seating Arrangements 3.08 avg rating — 23,215 ratings — published 2012 — 33 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
	Astonish Me 3.62 avg rating — 19,676 ratings — published 2014 — 7 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
	You Have a Friend in 10A: Stories 3.42 avg rating — 2,873 ratings — published 2022 — 8 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 June Paintings 3.68 avg rating — 2,311 ratings — published 2024 — 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
	Angel Lust by Maggie Shipstead (Goodreads Author), Halimah Marcus (Introduction) 3.63 avg rating — 89 ratings — published 2013 — 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
	La Moretta (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 86) by Maggie Shipstead (Goodreads Author), Chang-rae Lee (Introduction) 3.89 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 2014	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
	Theory on the Origins of Time 3.83 avg rating — 6 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
	Maggie Shipstead 3 Books Collection Set (You Have a Friend in 10A [Hardcover], Seating Arrangements, Great Circle) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 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
	그레이트 서클 1 by Maggie Shipstead (Goodreads Author), 매기 십스테드 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 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

More books by Maggie Shipstead…

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Maggie Shipstead's Blog

vintageanchorbooks:Sarah Jessica Parker ignoring Tom Hanks and a...

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Sarah Jessica Parker ignoring Tom Hanks and a hockey game to read ASTONISH ME.

The prophecy has been fulfilled.

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