The Chalk ArtistAuthor: Allegra Goodman
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Coming of Age
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Publisher: The Dial Press
Description:
A gifted artist, an idealistic teacher, and a young gamer intersect in this compelling new novel by Allegra Goodman.
Collin
is young, creative, and unhappy. A college dropout, he waits tables and
spends his free time beautifying the streets of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, with his medium of choice: chalk. Collin’s art captivates
people with vibrant colors and intricate lines—until he erases it all
away. Nothing in Collin’s life is meant to last. Then he meets Nina...
The
daughter of a tech mogul who is revolutionizing virtual reality, Nina
is trying to give back as a high school teacher—but her students won’t
listen to her. When Collin enters her world, he inspires her to think
bigger. Nina wants to return the favor—even if it means losing him.
Here
is a contemporary, intricate world of students, neighbors, and
colleagues: Diana, a teenage girl trying to disappear; her twin brother,
Aidan, who plays dangerously with the games produced by Nina’s father;
and Daphne, a viral-marketing trickster who unites them all, for better
or worse.
Wise, warm, and enchanting, THE CHALK ARTIST is
both a finely rendered portrait of modern love and a celebration of all
the realms we inhabit: real and imagined, visual and virtual, seemingly
independent yet hopelessly tangled.
Praise:
“All the characters in The Chalk Artist are
questers. An inexperienced English teacher yearns to inspire her
students, an artist learns to embrace his talent and a gaming addict
finds an unexpected connection to the non-virtual world. This
deft novel is filled with the exquisite pleasures one expects from
Allegra Goodman, richly layered and emotionally resonant. I absolutely
devoured it.”—Geraldine Brooks, author of March and People of the Book
“What begins as a sparkling love story of an idealistic young teacher, Nina, and artist Collin, who works only in chalk, becomes a stunning, rich exploration of whether love, art, literature, and nature can compete with breathtaking virtual worlds.”—Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and The Summer Before the War
“What begins as a sparkling love story of an idealistic young teacher, Nina, and artist Collin, who works only in chalk, becomes a stunning, rich exploration of whether love, art, literature, and nature can compete with breathtaking virtual worlds.”—Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and The Summer Before the War
“A very relevant love story... an idealistic schoolteacher gets her artist boyfriend a job with
her father's video game company even as she's losing a promising student
to the addiction of gaming. Goodman's
eighth novel takes place in two skillfully evoked worlds that are at war
for the hearts and minds of young people: video games versus education,
specifically high school English classes... The
language and details of the games—sparkling aeroflakes, epic qwests,
diamond flasks ‘filled with a hatchling dragon's blood’—are... original
elements of the book: in fact, nongaming readers may be surprised to
find themselves wondering if they are missing out on something.”—Kirkus Reviews
Allegra Goodman’s novels include The Cookbook Collector and Intuition. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and Best American Short Stories.
She is a winner of the Whiting Writer’s Award and a fellowship at the
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She lives with her family in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
http://www.allegragoodman.com/
Thanks to the wonderful people at Random House, I have (2) hardcover copies to giveaway! Open to US only!
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