'Like a very complex game'

 

"Ina crazy way, writing is a lot like any kind of very complex game - like chess,where you have the knowledge as you're composing all of the ramifications ofeach move, of each choice you make." – Adam Ross

 

Born in New York City this date in1967, Ross is a novelist, short story writer and magazine editor whose novel Mr. Peanut was named both a New YorkTimes Notable Book and one of the best books of 2010  by The NewYorker, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New Republic, and TheEconomist.   An intricate murdermystery, the book has been translated into 16 languages.

 

A gifted athlete who won a highschool state wrtestling championship, Ross also grew up interested in actingand appeared in several movies and numerous television commercials.  He is working on a semi-autobiographical novel on those youth acting experiencs.

 

Now the editor of the historicliterary magazine The Sewanee Review (since2016), he and his family live in Nashville, where his writing includes frequent contributions to such newspapers andmagazines as The Wall Street Journal, TheDaily Beast and The Nashville Scene.  His short stories have appeared in The Carolina Quarterly.

“I think that if you have a knack for storytelling, and you work really hard atit, you'll have a chance to tap into something deep,” he said.   “But the fact remains that good sentencesare hard won. Any writer worth a lick knows constructing a sentence, aparagraph, or a chapter is hard work.”

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