Alice Hoffman (born March 16, 1952) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelA novel is a 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....
ist and
young-adultYoung-adult fiction is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21.-Characteristics:...
and
children's writerChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres. Books specifically for children existed by the 17th century...
, best known for her 1996 novel
Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998
film of the same namePractical Magic is a 1998 family fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches who carry on a family legacy of witchcraft and tragedy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Alice Hoffman. The original music score was composed by Alan...
. Many of her works fall into the
genreA literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
of magic realism and contain elements of
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
,
ironyIrony is a situation, literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity, discordance or unintended connection that goes beyond the most evident meaning....
, and non-standard
romanceRomance is a general term that refers to the attempt to express love with words or deeds. It also refers to a feeling of excitement associated with love....
s and relationships.
Born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, and raised on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
, Hoffman graduated from
Adelphi UniversityAdelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York. A nationally accredited school, it is the oldest institution of higher learning on Long Island. In 2005 and 2006, the Princeton Review listed Adelphi as one of the Northeast's best...
, where she received her
BABachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
, and received an
MAA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
in
creative writingCreative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
from
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
, where she was an Edith Mirrielees Fellow.
Alice Hoffman (born March 16, 1952) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelA novel is a 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....
ist and
young-adultYoung-adult fiction is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21.-Characteristics:...
and
children's writerChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres. Books specifically for children existed by the 17th century...
, best known for her 1996 novel
Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998
film of the same namePractical Magic is a 1998 family fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches who carry on a family legacy of witchcraft and tragedy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Alice Hoffman. The original music score was composed by Alan...
. Many of her works fall into the
genreA literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
of magic realism and contain elements of
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
,
ironyIrony is a situation, literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity, discordance or unintended connection that goes beyond the most evident meaning....
, and non-standard
romanceRomance is a general term that refers to the attempt to express love with words or deeds. It also refers to a feeling of excitement associated with love....
s and relationships.
Biography
Born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, and raised on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
, Hoffman graduated from
Adelphi UniversityAdelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York. A nationally accredited school, it is the oldest institution of higher learning on Long Island. In 2005 and 2006, the Princeton Review listed Adelphi as one of the Northeast's best...
, where she received her
BABachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
, and received an
MAA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
in
creative writingCreative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
from
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
, where she was an Edith Mirrielees Fellow. Her first job was at the Doubleday publishing house, which later published two of her novels.
She wrote the screenplay for the 1983 film
Independence DayIndependence Day is a 1983 film directed by Robert Mandel from a script by the novelist Alice Hoffman. It was designed by Stewart Campbell and shot by Charles Rosher...
, starring
Kathleen QuinlanKathleen Denise Quinlan is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures.-Personal life:...
and
Dianne WiestDianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
.
Hoffman currently lives in New York & Boston, with her husband. After being treated for
breast cancerBreast cancer is a cancer that starts in the breast, usually in the inner lining of the milk ducts or lobules. There are different types of breast cancer, with different stages , aggressiveness, and genetic makeup. With best treatment, 10-year disease-free survival varies from 98% to 10%...
at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, she helped establish the hospital's Hoffman Breast Center.
Novels
- Property Of (1977)
- The Drowning Season (1979)
- Angel Landing (1980)
- White Horses (1982)
- Fortune's Daughter (1985)
- Illumination Night (1987)
- At Risk (1988)
- Seventh Heaven (1990)
- Turtle Moon (1992)
- Second Nature (1994)
- Practical Magic (1996)
- Here on Earth (1997)
- Local Girls (1999)
- The River King (2000)
- Blue Diary (2001)
- The Probable Future (2003)
- Blackbird House
-Plot Summary:Surrounded by fields of sweet peas and fruit vines in rural Massachusetts sits Blackbird House, a haunting house to the women who live in her. A raging storm in 1778 sees John Hadley and his sons lost at sea...
(2004)
- The Ice Queen
The Ice Queen is a novel by Alice Hoffman, published by Vintage Books in 2006."Wishes... burn your tongue the moment they're spoken and you can never take them back."-The Ice Queen-Plot Summary:...
(2005)
- Skylight Confessions (2007)
- The Third Angel (2008)
- The Story Sisters
The Story Sisters is a 2009 novel by Alice Hoffman. It is about three sisters who inhabit a fantasy world and a real world on Long Island and in Manhattan. It has been described as magic realism....
(2009)
Young adult novels
- Aquamarine
Aquamarine is a novel by Alice Hoffman, published in April 2001. A film adaptation was released in 2006, although the plot of the film bears little resemblance to that of the book.-Plot summary:...
(2001)
- Indigo
Indigo is a novel written by Alice Hoffman, published by Scholastic in 2002. It is a fantasy novel that tells of the journey of self discovery that Martha Glimmer, a 13-year old girl who lives in the town of Oak Grove, and her friends "Trout" McGill, age 13, and his brother "Eel", age 11, embark on...
(2002)
- Green Angel
Green Angel is a 2003 young adult novel written by Alice Hoffman.-Plot summary:Green is a quiet, pretty, and shy 15-year-old girl who is approaching her 16th birthday. She lives with her mother, father, and sister, Aurora, in a house on the edge of a city...
(2003)
- Water Tales: Aquamarine & Indigo (omnibus edition) (2003)
- The Foretelling (2005)
- Incantation (2006)
Children's books
- Fireflies: A Winter's Tale (illustrated by Wayne McLoughlin) (1999)
- Horsefly (paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher) (2000)
- Moondog (with Wolfe Martin; illustrated by Yumi Heo) (2004)
Filmography
- Independence Day
Independence Day is a 1983 film directed by Robert Mandel from a script by the novelist Alice Hoffman. It was designed by Stewart Campbell and shot by Charles Rosher...
(1983) (writer)
- Practical Magic
Practical Magic is a 1998 family fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches who carry on a family legacy of witchcraft and tragedy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Alice Hoffman. The original music score was composed by Alan...
(1998) (novel)
- Sudbury (2004) (novel, Practical Magic)
- The River King
The River King is a 2005 film starring Edward Burns and Rachelle Lefèvre in a tale of a detective who is investigating the death of a student at the local private school. Lefevre plays Carlin Leander, the new girl who befriended the boy and is now being haunted by him.The film is based on a book...
(2005) (novel)
- Aquamarine
Aquamarine is an American-Australian co-production 2006 film starring Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton. The film, which was made in both the United States and Australia, was released in North America on March 3, 2006...
(2006) (novel)
External links