Emily Giffin: A Biography [NOOK Book]

ABOUT THE BOOK

Dubbed a modern-day Jane Austen, Emily Giffin's five novels have sold millions of copies and scored spots on the New York Times bestseller list. Blonde, blue-eyed, smart, and beautiful, Giffin writes about heroines with deep flaws that drive the story, but on the surface at least, Giffin's own life seems charmed, even close to perfect.

After years of making the smart, risk-averse decisions that often mark overachievers, Giffin took a major leap of faith in herself, leaving the stressful world of high-stakes litigation to try writing novels full-time. For many lawyers, following their dreams would have been too risky. For many lawyers that do take a risk, the leap would have been a mere break that led to returning to legal practice. But not for Emily Giffin, whose risk paid off with enormous measurable success and the adoration of her fans.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Anita Felicelli is a writer and an attorney. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a triple major in Rhetoric, Interdisciplinary Studies (art and design), and English, she attended Boalt Hall Law School and Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. She worked as a litigator for eight years before commencing a full-time writing and editing career. Anita's first book of poetry was published in 2010. She has experience writing and editing on topics as diverse as law, medicine, film, books and travel. An intrepid cook and arts enthusiast, Anita lives in Northern California with her husband and two corgis.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

As a working mother, Giffin hired a nanny/assistant. She works a regular workday in her office before her kids return from school. Giffin begins each novel with only a general concept. She doesn't outline before writing her novels, believing in a spontaneous character-driven writing process in which she finds out what's going to happen as it happens. She writes a chapter at a time. Her mother is still one of her three "readers" who offer suggestions before the book is published.

Although Giffin is careful to comment that some of her favorite books are chick-lit, she usually lists her favorite books separately from her favorite chick lit. Giffin's favorite authors include literary novelists Tom Perotta (Election), Alice Munro (Runaway), Ann Patchett (Bel Canto), Nick Hornby (High Fidelity), Jane Smiley (A Thousand Acres), and Anne Tyler (The Accidental Tourist). And Giffin cites these her all-time favorite books: A Little Princess, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Member of the Wedding, The Inn at Lake Devine, Plainsong, Runaway, Wuthering Heights, The End of the Affair, That Night and Mrs. Dalloway. Giffin's favorite movies include Shawshank Redemption, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dirty Dancing, When Harry Met Sally, Out of Africa, and The Parent Trap.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Emily Giffin: A Biography
+ Introduction
+ Who is Emily Giffin?
+ The 5 Novels That Made Emily Giffin Famous
+ Personal Life
+ ...and much more