Little Known Facts

Life as one of Hollywood's most handsome, charismatic and critically-acclaimed movie stars seems like a glitzy fairytale to the people who orbit around Renn Ivins. But for his grown children, Anna and Will, their father's fame threatens to permeate every aspect of their lives. For Anna - a diligent medical student with a promising future ahead of her but not so promising romantic prospects - the exploits of her celebrity father are a source of embarrassment and, at best, bemusement. Her brother Will, on the other hand, is floundering in a quarter-life crisis. The only thing to outlast his directionless career and failed relationships is his trust fund, but while he and Anna may be happy to use their father's money, they're less happy to use his influence.

As the family, lovers and hangers-on of Renn Ivins struggle to forge their identities in the colossal shadow of his celebrity, Christine Sneed deftly unravels the secrets they tell each other and themselves. Little Known Facts is a multi-layered, deftly observed novel of the fallout of fame and fortune.

Autorentext

Christine Sneed is the author of Little Known Facts. She has a creative writing MFA from Indiana University and teaches creative writing at DePaul University, Northwestern University and Pacific University. Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry won AWP's 2009 Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, first-fiction category, was named the Chicago Writer's Association Book of the Year, and the recipient of Ploughshares' 2011 first-book prize, the John C. Zacharis Award. It was also long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and named one of the seven best books of the year by Time Out Chicago. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Best American Short Stories, PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, Ploughshares, Southern Review, Massachusetts Review, New England Review, Notre Dame Review, and a number of other journals. Visit her website at http://www.christinesneed.com.