Allegra Goodman

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Allegra Goodman

Goodreads Author


Born
in Brooklyn, NY, The United States
Website

Genre

Influences
George Eliot, George Orwell, Jane Austen, Cynthia Ozick, Leo Tolstoy, ...more

Member Since
May 2017


Hello, Good Readers!

My new book "This Is Not About Us" will be published in February! You can order it here.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

My novel "Isola" is now in paperback. This is a historical novel based on the true story of a young woman who sails from France to the New World in 1542 and is marooned on an island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

I am also the author of several other books including, "Sam," a novel about a young girl's exuberance, wonder, and ambition as she comes of age.

Jenna Bush Hager picked "Sam" for her Today Show book club and said, "Sam is about as perfect of a coming-of-age story as I have ever read."

About me: I was born in Brooklyn, but I grew up in Honolulu where I did not have to wear shoes in schoo
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Allegra Goodman My best advice is to watch, listen, and read. Watch the people around you, observe the weather, be that person, on whom nothing is lost. Listen to the…moreMy best advice is to watch, listen, and read. Watch the people around you, observe the weather, be that person, on whom nothing is lost. Listen to the way people talk; really listen to their voices so that you can write dialog that sounds real. Read widely--not just in your own genre but in others. Fall in love with your public library. Read poetry, read history, read published diaries and letters. Read books old and new. (less)
Allegra Goodman Writer's block means difficulty writing. Some people think (despairingly) that they can't write because they have nothing to say, or because they aren…moreWriter's block means difficulty writing. Some people think (despairingly) that they can't write because they have nothing to say, or because they aren't "good enough." I prefer to think of writer's block as growing pains. I've definitely experienced times when I just didn't have it in me to write another sentence--and looking back, I see that those times came when I was confused or uncertain. I had to figure out what to do next. In other words, I had to grow--to stop writing and learn something new. You remember the aches and pains you had when you were shooting up as a kid. Writer's block is like that too. Don't think of it as a malady. Think of it as sign of a growth spurt. Don't force yourself to write through it. Stop writing for a day or a week or even a month and read and think instead. Then try again after this respite, and see what happens. (less)
Average rating: 3.84 · 125,433 ratings · 15,248 reviews · 20 distinct worksSimilar authors
Isola

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 73,509 ratings — published 2025 — 15 editions
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Sam

3.77 avg rating — 15,254 ratings — published 2023 — 7 editions
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The Cookbook Collector

3.33 avg rating — 13,328 ratings — published 2010 — 22 editions
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The Other Side of the Island

3.70 avg rating — 5,030 ratings — published 2008 — 13 editions
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Intuition: A Novel

3.34 avg rating — 4,259 ratings — published 2006 — 33 editions
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Kaaterskill Falls

3.70 avg rating — 3,039 ratings — published 1999 — 22 editions
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The Chalk Artist

3.43 avg rating — 2,353 ratings — published 2017 — 11 editions
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The Family Markowitz

by
3.42 avg rating — 926 ratings — published 1996 — 15 editions
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Paradise Park

3.23 avg rating — 534 ratings — published 2001 — 13 editions
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This Is Not About Us

3.93 avg rating — 176 ratings4 editions
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More books by Allegra Goodman…

By the Book

I'm doing the "By the Book" Q&A in "The New York Times Book Review" this summer. These questions are so much fun. Watch for me . . .
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Published on May 29, 2017 05:29

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Allegra’s Recent Updates

Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li
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This book broke my heart. It also made me think. Yiyun Li writes with clarity about the loss of her sons--but this book is not really about death. It is about her sons' lives. It is about understanding that we can never control other people, not even ...more
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
Clear by Carys Davies
Clear
by Carys Davies (Goodreads Author)
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A poignant novel set on a remote Scottish island slated to be cleared of its last inhabitant. I was immediately drawn in by Ivar. His loneliness is palpable. Solitude is practically its own character here. When John Ferguson arrives to evict him I fe ...more
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
Heart of a Stranger by Angela Buchdahl
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I loved this memoir of Rabbi Buchdahl's upbringing and spiritual journey. It's the story of a Jew connecting with tradition. It's the story of a faith leader finding her vocation. And it's the story of an American realizing her dream. The book is mov ...more
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
A Guardian and a Thief
by Megha Majumdar (Goodreads Author)
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You can read this book in one sitting, but the characters and their desperate situation will stay with you. Majumdar challenges us to think about who is guarding whom and who is the thief. She writes with empathy about each person and in the end you ...more
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
A Guardian and a Thief
by Megha Majumdar (Goodreads Author)
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You can read this book in one sitting, but the characters and their desperate situation will stay with you. Majumdar challenges us to think about who is guarding whom and who is the thief. She writes with empathy about each person and in the end you ...more
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
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Lily King recommended this book to me and it did not disappoint. I was fascinated by Hazzard's remarkable style, her use of images, her acute sensitivity to mood and motive. Sentence by sentence this is a book to savor. As for the plot, it's sweeping ...more
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Heart the Lover
by Lily King (Goodreads Author)
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Isola by Allegra Goodman
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
Whale Fall by Elizabeth  O'Connor
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I loved this lyrical and poignant novel and read it in one sitting. Sentence by sentence it's a beautiful read. I only wish it had been longer. ...more
Allegra Goodman rated a book it was amazing
Homer and His Iliad by Robin Lane Fox
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I just love this study of "The Iliad" and the way that Robin Lane Fox tackled questions about authorship, genre, date, and setting. In the first half of his book, Fox applies considerable archeological and historical knowledge to "The Iliad" with a g ...more
More of Allegra's books…
Quotes by Allegra Goodman  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“How sad, he thought, that desire found new objects but did not abate, that when it came to longing there was no end.”
Allegra Goodman, The Cookbook Collector

“People ask every day, "Why was I put on earth?" As if there is perhaps one reason. The truth is that there are too many reasons to count, and each reason and each soul connects to every other,”
Allegra Goodman, The Cookbook Collector

“I myself was now an island. Solitary. Brambles and five-petalled flowers were my garden. Rocks my furniture. Ocean waves my lessons. Sadness overwhelmed me and sank back. Then, like the tide, joy crept in on me again.”
Allegra Goodman, Isola

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