Alice Hoffman
Encyclopedia
Alice Hoffman is an American
novel
ist and young-adult
and children's writer
, best known for her 1996 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name
. Many of her works fall into the genre
of magic realism and contain elements of magic
, irony
, and non-standard romance
s and relationships.
and raised on Long Island
, New York
. Her grandmother was Russian
. She graduated from Adelphi University
with a Bachelor of Arts
degree. She earned a Master of Arts
degree in creative writing
from Stanford University
, where she was an Edith Mirrielees Fellow
.
She wrote the screenplay for the 1983 film Independence Day
, starring Kathleen Quinlan
and Dianne Wiest
.
Hoffman is a Scholar at the Brandeis
Women's Studies Research Center.
. After being treated for breast cancer
at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge
, she helped establish the hospital's Hoffman Breast Center.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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....
ist and young-adult
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...
and children's writer
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
, best known for her 1996 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name
Practical Magic
Practical Magic is a 1998 American 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...
. Many of her works fall into the genre
Literary genre
A 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 magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, irony
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
, and non-standard romance
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
s and relationships.
Early life and education
Alice Hoffman was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and raised on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, 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...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Her grandmother was Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
. She graduated from Adelphi University
Adelphi University
Adelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It is the oldest institution of higher education on Long Island. For the sixth year, Adelphi University has been named a “Best Buy” in higher education by the Fiske Guide to...
with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor 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...
degree. She earned a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree in creative writing
Creative writing
Creative 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 University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where she was an Edith Mirrielees Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
.
Career
Hoffman's first job was at Doubleday, which later published two of her novels.She wrote the screenplay for the 1983 film Independence Day
Independence Day (1983 film)
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...
, starring Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Denise Quinlan is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures.-Personal life:...
and Dianne Wiest
Dianne Wiest
Dianne 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 is a Scholar at the Brandeis
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
Women's Studies Research Center.
Personal life
She and her husband reside in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. After being treated for breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, 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 (1995)
- Here on Earth (1997)
- Local Girls (1999)
- The River King" (2000)
- Blue Diary (2001)
- The Probable Future (2003)
- Blackbird HouseBlackbird HouseBlackbird House is a novel by Alice Hoffman, published by Vintage Books in 2004.-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 QueenThe Ice QueenThe 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 SistersThe Story SistersThe 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) - The Red Garden (2011)
- The Dovekeepers (2011)
Young adult novels
- AquamarineAquamarine (novel)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 (2002)
- Green AngelGreen AngelGreen Angel is a 2003 young adult novel written by Alice Hoffman. It tells the story of a girl's isolation, suffering and gradual recovery after her family dies in a catastrophic fire. It has elements of magic realism and dystopian fiction...
(2003) - Water Tales: Aquamarine & Indigo (omnibus edition) (2003)
- The Foretelling (2005)
- Incantation (2006)
- Green Witch (2010)
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 DayIndependence Day (1983 film)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 MagicPractical MagicPractical Magic is a 1998 American 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...
(1998) (novel) - Sudbury (2004) (novel, Practical Magic)
- The River KingThe River KingThe River King is a 2005 film starring Edward Burns, Rachelle Lefèvre and Jennifer Ehle as a policeman, student and teacher all searching for the truth behind the apparent suicide of a young man at small private school...
(2005) (novel) - AquamarineAquamarine (film)Aquamarine is a 2006 Australian-American teen fantasy comedy film starring Sara Paxton, Emma Roberts, and Joanna "JoJo" Levesque . The film, which was made in both the United States and Australia, was released in North America on March 3, 2006...
(2006) (novel)