CHAN, David Marshall 1970–

PERSONAL: Born 1970, in Los Angeles, CA. Education: Holds degrees from Yale University and University of California.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Publishers Group West, 1700 Fourth St., Berkeley, CA 94710.

CAREER: Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Columbia Fiction Prize; Los Angeles Times Book Prize nomination for first work of fiction, 2004, for Goblin Fruit: Stories.

WRITINGS:

Goblin Fruit: Stories, Publishers Group West (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Bomb and Columbia.

SIDELIGHTS: David Marshall Chan's first book of short fiction, Goblin Fruit: Stories, explores the vagaries of growing up Asian American in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Warmly received by reviewers, Chan's book was nominated for the Los Angeles Times book prize in 2004 as a first work of fiction.

Library Journal correspondent Jim Coan explained that Chan's story collection "uses childhood and youthful innocence as a starting point to weave together tales of loss, dislocation, and imagination." In one of the stories collected, a young man describes his efforts to make it in show business after losing a brother in a horrible accident on a movie set. In another, a narrator recalls a dynamic childhood friend who has since disappeared and is believed to be dead. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that the collection "draws out the experience of growing up Asian-American in Southern California." In Booklist, Kaite Mediatore maintained that Goblin Fruit should have a wider appeal. The stories, Mediatore concluded, "have an everyman feel that will touch all readers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2003, Kaite Mediatore, review of Goblin Fruit: Stories, p. 844.

Library Journal, January, 2003, Jim Coan, review of Goblin Fruit, p. 161.

New York Review of Books, November 6, 2003, Joyce Carol Oates, review of Goblin Fruit.

Publishers Weekly, November 25, 2002, review of Goblin Fruit, p. 41.