Snyder, Scott B.

PERSONAL:

Married; wife's name Jeanie.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Stonybrook, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Columbia University, New York, NY, adjunct assistant professor. Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL, former cast member.

WRITINGS:

Voodoo Heart (short stories), Dial Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to journals, including Zoetrope, One Story, Tin House, and Epoch.

SIDELIGHTS:

The stories in Voodoo Heart, Scott B. Snyder's first collection, center on characters who have suffered what Small Spiral Notebook interviewer Felicia C. Sullivan called "accidents of the heart." "The book was written over the course of a few years," Snyder told Sullivan, "but for most of that time, I was in the process of falling in love with someone—Jeanie, the girl who eventually would become my wife. So in a lot of ways the stories are built around the fears and hopes that are part of that experience." He continued: "They are afraid of love in some respect or other. Love's pretty scary…. But it's also what they want the most, too. And most of them, when they take the plunge, end up much better off for it, despite the wild ride."

Critics celebrated Snyder's debut collection for the author's technical abilities and for the wild imagination he infuses into his work. "Suffused with sly humor, sympathy and high spirits," reported Francine Prose in her starred Publishers Weekly review, "the stories in Voodoo Heart are giddy with the thrill of discovering what can be done with words, what you can make happen on the page." "Snyder is masterful," Booklist contributor Emily Cook declared, "and the fact that he draws on uniquely American symbols, stories, and songs makes Voodoo Heart outstanding."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2006, Emily Cook, review of Voodoo Heart, p. 26.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2006, review of Voodoo Heart, p. 436.

Publishers Weekly, March 27, 2006, Francine Prose, review of Voodoo Heart, p. 52.

ONLINE

Scott Synder: Voodoo Heart,http://www.voodooheart.com (December 5, 2006).

Small Spiral Notebook Web site,http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/ (December 5, 2006), Felicia C. Sullivan, "Felicia C. Sullivan Interviews Scott Snyder, Author of Voodoo Heart."