Clark, Bridie 1977- (Bridie Jane Clark)

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Clark, Bridie 1977- (Bridie Jane Clark)

PERSONAL:

Born October 17, 1977; daughter of Thomas (a financial manager and bond broker) and Margy (a nurse) Clark; married John Loverro (an investment analyst), November 4, 2006. Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1999.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. Agent—Daniel Greenberg, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, Inc., 307 7th Ave., Ste. 2407, New York, NY 10001. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and businessperson. Simon & Schuster, assistant editor, c. 2002-03; ReganBooks, New York, NY, editor, c. 2003-04; Blue State Coffee, founder, 2006. Previously worked at Vanity Fair and New York magazine.

WRITINGS:

(With Ashley Dodd) The Halloween Handbook: 447 Costumes, Workman Publishing (New York, NY), 2004.

Because She Can (novel), Warner Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Gawker's Guide to Conquering All Media, Atria (New York, NY), 2007.

ADAPTATIONS:

Because She Can has been adapted as an audio recording by Hatchette Audio.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bridie Clark held several jobs in publishing before she left the business in 2004 to write her first novel, Because She Can. Although the book was partially inspired by Clark's former boss, Judith Regan at ReganBooks, Clark's editor Karen Kosztolnyik noted in an interview for a New York Observer online article: "A lot of people have been construing that the book was about Judith Regan. But it's really a compilation of all of her experiences, as well as friends of hers who've worked for overly demanding bosses."

Because She Can tells the story of a young book editor working for a book-publishing diva, Vivian Grant, who heaps verbal abuse on her young protégé, twenty-six-year-old Claire Truman. The novel follows Claire as she tries to deal with her horrendous boss, who abuses her in public and, out of spite, threatens to halt the forthcoming publication of a friend's book. In the meantime, Claire meets a young financier, Randall, whom she eventually decides to marry, only to have Vivian intrude on their wedding day to talk about business. Alexandra Jacobs, writing in the New York Times Book Review, called Because She Can a "charming little caper." Numerous reviewers noted the author's ability to write humor. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the novel "funny in parts, especially in the gleeful anarchy of some of Vivian's more sociopathic rants." Likewise, Marie Hashima Lofton wrote on the BookLoons Web site that "the novel is funny in places, sad in others, and readers will empathize with [the] main character."

Clark is also the author, with Ashley Dodd, of The Halloween Handbook: 447 Costumes, a guide to fast-and-easy costumes for Halloween. The book includes photographs of seventy-five homemade costumes and directions for quickly assembling them. A Library Bookwatch contributor noted that the authors include "fun, zany, sometimes edgy ideas."