Jill Eisenstadt
Encyclopedia
Jill Eisenstadt is an American
novelist, screenwriter, teacher and freelance journalist.
Eisenstadt was born in Queens, New York and attended Bennington College
, graduating in 1985. She was considered part of the 'Literary Brat Pack
' whose members included Bret Easton Ellis
, Jay McInerney
, and Tama Janowitz
. Like her contemporaries at Bennington, she sometimes wrote in a sparse minimalist style influenced by such writers as Raymond Carver
and Joan Didion
.
Her first novel
, From Rockaway, published by Knopf in 1987, was submitted as her MFA
thesis while at Columbia University
. The book is a coming-of-age tale about four teenagers from Rockaway Beach
in Queens. The protagonist, Alex, escapes the working-class milieux with a scholarship to the fictional Camden College (a stand-in for Bennington) while her three friends work menial jobs and live in the now, spending summers lifeguarding and winters doing odd jobs. Eventually the foursome reunites at a beachside party and comes to terms with their diverging lives. From Rockaway was translated into six languages and optioned by film director Sydney Pollack
.
Eisenstadt followed with a second Knopf novel, Kiss Out, in 1991. In addition to her longer works, she has contributed short stories, essays, articles, interviews, and book reviews to such publications as The New York Times
, Vogue
, Mademoiselle
, Elle, The Boston Review, New York Magazine, BKYLN (where she was an editor), BOMB and Glamour
and to the anthologies ALTARED: Essays About Modern Weddings (Anchor Books 2007), Queens Noir (Askasic Books, 2007) and The Best Sex Writing 2008. She collaborated with her sister Debra
on the screenplay
s for the independent film
s Daydream Believer (2001) and The Limbo Room (2006) She has also written extensively about the frightening experience of losing her apartment in 1989 to a steam-pipe explosion that contaminated her possessions, including her manuscript
s, with asbestos
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist, screenwriter, teacher and freelance journalist.
Eisenstadt was born in Queens, New York and attended Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
, graduating in 1985. She was considered part of the 'Literary Brat Pack
Brat Pack (literary)
The expression "literary Brat Pack" refers to the three young, East-coast American authors, Bret Easton Ellis, Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney, who emerged in USA in the 1980s...
' whose members included Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
, Jay McInerney
Jay McInerney
John Barrett McInerney Jr. is an American writer. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City; Ransom; Story of My Life; Brightness Falls; and The Last of the Savages...
, and Tama Janowitz
Tama Janowitz
Tama Janowitz is an American novelist and a short story writer. The 2005 September/October issue of Pages magazine listed her as one of the four "brat pack" authors, along with Bret Easton Ellis, Mark Lindquist and Jay McInerney.-Life:Her parents, a psychiatrist father, Julian Janowitz, and...
. Like her contemporaries at Bennington, she sometimes wrote in a sparse minimalist style influenced by such writers as Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
and Joan Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
.
Her first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, From Rockaway, published by Knopf in 1987, was submitted as her MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
thesis while at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. The book is a coming-of-age tale about four teenagers from Rockaway Beach
Rockaway Beach, Queens
Rockaway Beach is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the South Shore of Long Island. The neighborhood is bounded by Arverne to the east and Rockaway Park to the west...
in Queens. The protagonist, Alex, escapes the working-class milieux with a scholarship to the fictional Camden College (a stand-in for Bennington) while her three friends work menial jobs and live in the now, spending summers lifeguarding and winters doing odd jobs. Eventually the foursome reunites at a beachside party and comes to terms with their diverging lives. From Rockaway was translated into six languages and optioned by film director Sydney Pollack
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
.
Eisenstadt followed with a second Knopf novel, Kiss Out, in 1991. In addition to her longer works, she has contributed short stories, essays, articles, interviews, and book reviews to such publications as The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle (magazine)
Mademoiselle was an influential women's magazine first published in 1935 by Street and Smith and later acquired by Condé Nast Publications....
, Elle, The Boston Review, New York Magazine, BKYLN (where she was an editor), BOMB and Glamour
Glamour (magazine)
Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
and to the anthologies ALTARED: Essays About Modern Weddings (Anchor Books 2007), Queens Noir (Askasic Books, 2007) and The Best Sex Writing 2008. She collaborated with her sister Debra
Debra Eisenstadt
Debra Eisenstadt is an American director, writer, producer and actress. As a writer and director, she is the recipient of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Slamdance Film Festival and the Someone to Watch Award at the 2002 Independent Spirit Awards, both for her film Daydream Believer. She also...
on the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s for the independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
s Daydream Believer (2001) and The Limbo Room (2006) She has also written extensively about the frightening experience of losing her apartment in 1989 to a steam-pipe explosion that contaminated her possessions, including her manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s, with asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
.
Selected works
- From Rockaway (1987) ISBN 0-394-55970-3
- Kiss Out (1991) ISBN 0-394-58230-6