Clinch, Jon

PERSONAL:

Born in NY; married; children: a daughter. Education: Graduate of Syracuse University, bachelor's degree, 1976.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Educator, advertising executive, and writer. Has taught American literature, been creative director for a Philadelphia advertising agency, and run his own advertising agency in the Philadelphia suburbs.

WRITINGS:

Finn (novel), Random House (New York, NY), 2007.

Stories have appeared in periodicals, including John Gardner's magazine MSS. Also author of the Horsehair Couch Web blog.

SIDELIGHTS:

In his first novel, Finn, author Jon Clinch examines the world of Mark Twain's fictional character Huckleberry Finn in a novel that features the life of Huckleberry's father. Commenting on his novel in an interview on the Knight News Web site, the author noted: "I wanted to do honorable work that respected its source material, and I believe I accomplished that. Besides, it was fun to flesh out some of Twain's more two-dimensional characters: Not just Pap Finn, but the Widow Douglas and Judge Thatcher, too." In the novel, Clinch writes of a violent alcoholic who ends up falling in love with and then eventually murdering Huckleberry's black mother, Mary. "From the opening discovery of the murdered woman, the story moves backward and forward in alternating chapters that reflect Finn's tangled relationship with the past," wrote Ron Charles in the Washington Post Book World.

Finn received widespread approval from reviewers. In his review in the Washington Post Book World, Charles noted that the "impossibly complicated relationship [between Finn and Mary] is the heart of the novel and a testament to Clinch's sensitivity, his willingness to trace the threads of passion no matter where they lead." Edward B. St. John, writing in the Library Journal, commented: "Every fan of Twain's masterpiece will want to read this inspired spin-off."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2007, Ian Chipman, review of Finn, p. 49.

Boston Globe, April 28, 2007, James Sullivan, review of Finn.

Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 25, 2007, Daniel Dyer, review of Finn.

Entertainment Weekly, February 23, 2007, Jennifer Reese, review of Finn, p. 104.

Houston Chronicle, March 9, 2007, William J. Cobb, review of Finn.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2006, review of Finn, p. 1186.

Library Journal, January 1, 2007, Edward B. St. John, review of Finn, p. 88.

Newsweek, February 19, 2007, David Gates, "This Finn Is a Real Shark; in a New Novel, Huck's Pap Is Scarier Than You Remember," p. 72.

New Yorker, March 26, 2007, review of Finn, p. 91.

New York Times Book Review, March 11, 2007, Ron Powers, review of Finn, p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, December 18, 2006, review of Finn, p. 41.

San Francisco Chronicle, February 11, 2007, Katherine Hill, review of Finn.

School Library Journal, April 1, 2007, Robert Saunderson, review of Finn, p. 168.

St. Louis Dispatch, February 18, 2007, Harold K. Bush, Jr., review of Finn.

USA Today, February 20, 2007, Bob Minzesheimer, review of Finn.

Washington Post Book World, February 18, 2007, Ron Charles, review of Finn, p. BW01.

ONLINE

Agony Column,http://trashotron.com/agony/ (April 2, 2007), Rick Kleffel, review of Finn.

BookPage,http://www.bookpage.com/ (June 13, 2007), Ian Schwartz, review of Finn.

Bookslut,http://www.bookslut.com/ (June 13, 2007), Mariya Strauss, review of Finn.

Finn Web site,http://www.readfinn.com (June 13, 2007).

Jon Clinch Home Page,http://www.jonclinch.com (June 13, 2007).

Jon Clinch MySpace Profile,http://www.myspace.com/jonclinch (June 13, 2007).

Knight News,http://media.www.qcknightnews.com/ (May 10, 2007), "Question and Answer: Jon Clinch."

TeenReads.com,http://www.teenreads.com/ (June 13, 2007), Colleen Quinn, review of Finn.