Westfield, Robert 1972-

PERSONAL: Born 1972, in MD. Education: Columbia University, B.A., 1994.

ADDRESSES: Home— New York, NY. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER: Novelist and playwright. Writer-in-residence for The Working Group. Has also worked as a caterer and a tour guide.

AWARDS, HONORS: Received playwriting prize, fiction award, and Henry Evans traveling fellowship, all from Columbia University.

WRITINGS

Suspension (novel), HarperPerennial (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of plays, including A Wedding Album, The Pennington Plot, A Tulip Economy, and A Home Without.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert Westfield, a playwright and novelist based in New York City, is the author of Suspension, a work set in the months just before and after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The novel concerns Andy Green, a resident of Hell’s Kitchen, who earns a living by penning multiple-choice questions for educational tests. While attending a cabaret performance by his exotic Russian friend, Sonia Obolensky, Green falls for her mentor, a handsome philanthropist named Brad Willet. Green’s life comes apart at the seams, however, after he becomes the victim of a hate crime, Willet abruptly breaks off contact with him, and the Twin Towers fall. A fearful and paranoid Green refuses to leave his apartment for months and sees few visitors. He finally musters the courage to reenter society after he receives a mysterious package from Willet. Suspension received strong reviews. “Westfield wryly paints a series of seemingly unrelated events” against the backdrop of the terrorist attacks, noted Entertainment Weekly contributor J.P. Mangalindan, and a critic in Publishers Weekly called the work “a striking portrait of life in the Big Apple.” “Gay-bashing, 9/11, free-floating paranoia and fanaticism make pretty grim ingredients for a comedy, however dark,” observed a contributor to Kirkus Reviews, “but this ambitious debut ably wrests smart laughs from terror.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Entertainment Weekly, August 4, 2006, J.P. Mangalindan, review of Suspension, p. 73.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2006, review of Suspension, p. 545.

Publishers Weekly, May 1, 2006, review of Suspension, p. 32.

ONLINE

Pulp Noir.com, http://www.pulpnoir.com/?p=74 (September 11, 2006), Charlie Huston, “Unsolicited Work of the Young,” interview with Robert Westfield.

Robert Westfield’s Home Page, http://www.robertwestfield.com (January 15, 2007).

Southern Maryland Online, http://somd.com/ (November 3, 2006), “Interview: Bryans Road Author, Robert Westfield Returns to Maryland.”