Maggie Shipstead

 

Great Circle

This epic novel, gorgeously written and impeccably researched,  explores the contradiction between the human desire for complete understanding and the limited human capacity to understand—the central conundrum in the lives of pilot Marian Graves and her twin brother James. It follows Marian, James, and their friend Caleb from their remote Montana childhoods to their service in World War II and Marian’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe. A pastiche of possibly unreliable and limited-perspective narrative voices supports the idea that it’s impossible to arrive at any definitive truth.

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Seating Arrangements

This satirical novel spans a wedding weekend in a wealthy Harvard-Princeton family’s life. Repressed emotions seethe beneath surface civility, boiling over in hilarious and unexpected ways. Ultimately, this novel critiques wealth, privilege, and entitlement as well as the self-righteous rigidity of the family patriarch.

 

You've Got a Friend in 10A

The stories in this collection are surprisingly unique. From dude ranch to cult, from Romania to Hollywood, each story is delightfully distinct from the others. The commonality among the impressively diverse story premises is Shipstead’s demonstration of her linguistic and psychological acumen.

 

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