Meadows, Rae

PERSONAL:

Education: Stanford University; University of Utah, M.F.A., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Madison, WI.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked for GQ and People, senior copywriter. Previously worked for an escort service setting up dates, Salt Lake City, UT.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Book Sense Notable book, Entertainment Weekly Must Read, and Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, all for Calling Out.

WRITINGS:

Calling Out (novel), MacAdam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Mississippi Review, Flyway, 580 Split, and Fine Print.

ADAPTATIONS:

Calling Out has been optioned for film by Sound Pictures.

SIDELIGHTS:

Rae Meadows bases her first novel, Calling Out, partially on her own experience when she once worked for a call service setting up dates. In the novel, thirty-year-old Jane leaves New York after breaking up with her boyfriend and ends up working in Salt Lake City for a call service approved by the Mormons. Although she initially works at the front desk, Jane soon finds herself involved with her fellow workers and working as an escort as well. In the meantime, Jane has garnered the interest of a young Mormon man with problems who, unsurprisingly, disapproves of her work. A Kirkus Reviews contributor felt that the author shows "strong narrative technique as she brings the disjointed culture of Mormon-ruled Salt Lake City and a group of twenty-something Latter Day Sinners into high relief." Marie Hashima Lofton, writing on Bookreporter.com, commented: "For those who enjoy books in which the pages seem to turn on their own, Calling Out is the book for you. The characters are quirky enough to keep the reader interested, while at the same time they seem to stay within the realm of reality, though always on the edge." A reviewer writing in Publishers Weekly noted that the author "gives Jane a thoughtfully staccato first-person."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2006, review of Calling Out, p. 318.

Publishers Weekly, April 17, 2006, review of Calling Out, p. 164.

ONLINE

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (November 22, 2006), Marie Hashima Lofton, review of Calling Out.

University of Utah Alumni Association Web site,http://www.alumni.utah.edu/ (November 22, 2006), brief profile of author.

Wisconsin Book Festival Web site,http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/ (November 22, 2006), brief profile of author.