ROSENFELD, Lucinda 1969(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1969, in New York, NY.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Random House, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Novelist.

WRITINGS:

What She Saw in Roger Mancuso, Günter Hopstock, Jason Barry Gold, Spitty Clark, Jack Geezo, Humphrey Fung, Claude Duvet, Bruce Bledstone, KevinMcFeeley, Arnold Allen, Pablo Miles, Anonymous 1-4, Nobody 5-8, Neil Schmerz, and Bo Pierce (novel), Random House (New York, NY), 2000.

Why She Went Home (novel), Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor of stories and essays to Creative Nonfiction, New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Sunday Telegraph, Elle, Vogue, Talk, and Harper's Bazaar. Former author of nightlife column for New York Post.

SIDELIGHTS:

With two "Phoebe Fine" novels under her belt, Lucinda Rosenfeld has earned a reputation for writing grim yet comical stories steeped in East Coast culture. Her first novel, What She Saw in Roger Mancuso, Günter Hopstock, Jason Barry Gold, Spitty Clark, Jack Geezo, Humphrey Fung, Claude Duvet, Bruce Bledstone, Kevin McFeeley, Arnold Allen, Pablo Miles, Anonymous 1-4, Nobody 5-8, Neil Schmerz, and Bo Pierce, follows Fine as she suffers through romantic and sexual entanglements with the men listed in the title. Fine's experiences begin as a teenager in New Jersey, where she first demonstrates her penchant for arrogant jerks. College and a subsequent move to New York City are marred by her deteriorating physical and mental self-image. Throughout the novel, Rosenfeld makes fun of Fine's boyfriends, nerdy parents and upbringing, 1980s' pop culture, as well as her hopeless attempts to keep pace with exacting Manhattan trends.

Many reviewers responded to the humor in What She Saw …, although some wanted Rosenfeld to dig a little deeper. In the Chicago Tribune Books, Miranda Schwartz called the book "tedious" and added that Fine's "emotional age is pretty much the same on Page 1 as it is on page 281." Rosenfeld is "a genuinely funny, skewering satirist," wrote Jeff Giles in the New York Time Book Review, but the critic also commented that her novel "can be glib and disjointed, settling for laughs in lieu of insights." The funny side of the novel impressed Booklist reviewer Marlene Chamberlain, who recommended its "hilarious, authentic accounts of young adult relationships." In a review for Organic Style, Barbara Jones remarked that many elements are "deliciously satisfying and … sometimes snortingly funny."

In Why She Went Home, Rosenfeld sends Fine back to New Jersey after she loses her job and learns that her mother has cancer. Now almost thirty years old, Fine is looking for a man to marry and may have found one in Roget Mankuvsky, the quirky conductor of the Newark Symphony Orchestra. At the same time, she must deal with the reduced abilities of her aging parents and renewed competition with her sister, who returns home when she discovers that her husband is having an affair.

Commenting on the novel in Chicago's Tribune Books, Hagar Scher wrote that "In between funny and poignant moments, 'Why She Went Home' tries a little too hard." New York Times Book Review critic Megan O'Grady wanted to know more about the source of the heroine's pain: "Rosenfeld hasn't found a way to do more than hint at the emotion beneath Phoebe's flip, intermittently funny one-liners." Still, O'Grady credited the author with "a wonderful eye for detail … her portrait of the multiclass, multiethnic Jersey mallscape is spot on." Other reviewers focused on Fine as a remarkably appealing character. According to Booklist critic Kristine Huntley, "the joy of reading about Phoebe's madcap adventures comes as much from her wry observations as from what she actually does." And Boston Globe writer Diane White applauded the novel, saying that "Rosenfeld has a sharp, original, daring comic voice. In Phoebe she has created a born observer, always on the outside looking in." White remarked that the book is "honest, eccentric, likeable, and witty, much like its heroine."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Book, November, 2000, Elizabeth Crane, review of What She Saw in Roger Mancuso, Günter Hopstock, Jason Barry Gold, Spitty Clark, Jack Geezo, Humphrey Fung, Claude Duvet, Bruce Bledstone, Kevin McFeeley, Arnold Allen, Pablo Miles, Anonymous 1-4, Nobody 5-8, Neil Schmerz, and Bo Pierce, p. 82.

Booklist, August, 2000, Marlene Chamberlain, review of What She Saw …, p. 2116; January 1, 2004, Kristine Huntley, review of Why She Went Home, p. 826.

Boston Globe, March 14, 2004, Diane White, review of Why She Went Home, p. H6.

Interview, September, 2000, Diane Baroni, "The First Time," p. 132.

Library Journal, August, 2000, Margaret Hanes, review of What She Saw …, p. 161.

New York Time Book Review, October 1, 2000, Jeff Giles, review of What She Saw …, p. 11; March 14, 2004, Megan O'Grady, review of Why She Went Home, p. 26.

Organic Style, March, 2004, Barbara Jones, review of Why She Went Home, p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, July 10, 2000, review of What She Saw …, p. 41.

Spectator, November 17, 2001, Jack Wakefield, review of What She Saw …, p. 49.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), November 19, 2000, Miranda Schwartz, review of What She Saw …, p. 6; July 18, 2004, Hagar Scher, review of Why She Went Home, p. 4.

Village Voice, March 23, 1999, Cynthia Cotts, "Young Blood," p. 30.*