Weinstock, Nicholas

PERSONAL:

Son of Betsy Weinstock; married Amanda Beesley (a literary agent), September 6, 1997; children: one daughter. Education: Attended Harvard University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY.

CAREER:

Writer, novelist, and editor. Taught writing in Botswana and South Africa; worked as an editorial assistant at Turtle Bay Books, Villard Books, and Riverhead Books, and as an editor at Random House. Served as a volunteer firefighter.

WRITINGS:

The Secret Love of Sons: How We Men Feel about Our Mothers, and Why We Never Tell, Riverhead Books (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Jay Quinn) The Mentor: A Memoir of Friendship and Gay Identity, Haworth (New York, NY), 2000.

As Long as She Needs Me (novel), Cliff Street Books (New York, NY), 2001.

The Golden Hour (novel), William Morrow (New York, NY), 2006.

Also contributor to National Public Radio and to periodicals, including New York Times, Nation, Vogue, US, Elle, Ladies' Home Journal, and Glamour.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nicholas Weinstock is described as a "bright, sensitive and insightful young man" by Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Online's William Lord Coleman in his review of The Secret Love of Sons: How We Men Feel about Our Mothers, and Why We Never Tell, which he praised as "innovative, easy to read, and informative." In The Secret Love of Sons, Weinstock discusses the bond between sons and their mothers in different stages of the son's life. Reviewing the book for Booklist, Gilbert Taylor concluded that the volume is "a worthwhile generalizing of men's attitudes towards their mothers."

As Long as She Needs Me is Weinstock's first novel. It tells the story of Oliver, who has worked for the last ten years as an editorial assistant. Oliver's ruthless and demanding boss is Dawn, owner of Dawn Books, and he is fed up with running her errands and answering her phone calls. Dawn has an unbelievable task for Oliver—planning her wedding, which must be kept a secret—a job for which he is woefully unprepared. He is invited to the wedding of a college friend, where he meets Lauren, who happens to be a wedding columnist. He asks for her help in planning the wedding but, since Dawn's wedding must be kept secret, Lauren thinks they are planning Oliver's wedding. Lauren and Oliver develop feelings for each other, which neither wants to admit, as they work together. A Powell's Books Web site reviewer noted: "This sparkling comedy is also a hilarious behind-the-scenes satire." Romantic Times Online online contributor Jill M. Smith called it "wickedly fun and clever."

In The Golden Hour, a middle-aged city dweller rediscovers himself as a volunteer firefighter in a small upstate New York town. At age forty-six, William "Bull" Schoenberg is facing a jarring personal crisis. He has just divorced his wife of nearly twenty years, Pippa, after discovering that she was cheating on him. In a haze of confusion and psychological turmoil, he abandons his high-paying New York City job and all the elements of urban wealth to head upstate to the couple's country house in Harristown, hoping to start over. He finds no comfort there, only reminders of his wife's infidelity, and he sinks deeper into despair and alcohol. When he accidentally sets the house on fire with a fifth of gin, he encounters the members of the Harristown Volunteer Fire Department, who arrive to save the place. Though they have nothing but contempt for the city-bred Schoenberg, the firefighters realize they could use a big man like him on their squad, if he can manage to put down the booze and complete a rigorous training program. While he learns to save the lives of others, the newfound camaraderie and purpose may well save his own. "Schoenberg's transformation is deftly handled, hilarious, and moving," commented Anne Pyburn on the Chronogram Web site. Weinstock, himself an experienced volunteer firefighter, "is at his best when depicting the gruff, easy camaraderie of the company and the grudging manner in which they include the city boy," observed a Kirkus Reviews critic. A Publishers Weekly contributor remarked: "Weinstock's latest is smart, refreshing and great schadenfreude fun." Booklist contributor Joanne Wilkinson concluded that the story behind Schoenberg's "redemption is both moving and funny."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1997, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Secret Love of Sons: How We Men Feel about Our Mothers, and Why We Never Tell, p. 1369; January 1, 2006, Joanne Wilkinson, review of The Golden Hour, p. 62.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 1997, review of The Secret Love of Sons, p. 290; February 1, 2001, review of As Long as She Needs Me, p. 142; December 15, 2005, review of The Golden Hour, p. 1299.

New York Times, September 14, 1997, "Weddings."

Publishers Weekly, February 3, 1997, review of The Secret Love of Sons, p. 84; March 19, 2001, review of As Long as She Needs Me, p. 73; December 19, 2005, review of The Golden Hour, p. 40.

ONLINE

Chronogram Web site,http://www.chronogram.com/ (May 16, 2007), Anne Pyburn, review of The Golden Hour.

Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Onlinehttp://www.dbpeds.org/ (May 16, 2007), William Lord Coleman, M.D., review of The Secret Love of Sons.

HarperCollins Web site,http://www.harpercollins.com/ (May 16, 2007), description of As Long as She Needs Me; (May 16, 2007), biography of Nicholas Weinstock.

Poets & Writers Online,http://www.pw.org/ (May 16, 2007), Nicholas Weinstock, "The Trouble with Titles."

Powell's Books,http://www.powells.com/ (May 16, 2007), reviews of The Secret Love of Sons and As Long as She Needs Me.

Romance Reader,http://www.theromancereader.com/ (May 16, 2007), Susan Scribner, review of As Long as She Needs Me.

Romantic Times,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (May 16, 2007), Jill M. Smith, review of As Long as She Needs Me.