November 5, 2007
Book deal worth noting: Shapiro’s ‘Devotion’
Publishers Weekly reported today that Harpers preempted a new book by Dani Shapiro (pictured right) in which the author will “explore and understand the anxiety that has governed her life, in the process grappling with questions of faith, meaning and identity.”
Shapiro, the author of five novels and one memoir, “Slow Motion,” grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home and attended yeshiva until seventh grade when she went to prep school. Afterward, she attended Sarah Lawrence College where she met her future mentor, Grace Paley.
But, she didn’t stay at Sarah Lawrence long enough to graduate. In “Slow Motion,” Shapiro talks about how she dropped out of college, became dependant on alcohol and drugs and had an affair with her best friend’s stepfather.
At this low point in her life, tragedy strikes. Her parents are badly hurt in a car wreck and Shapiro must summon the strength to help them in any way she can. She returns home to New Jersey and, in the process of helping her parents, Shapiro begins her own recovery. She re-enrolls as an undergrad in Sarah Lawrence, pursues her writing career and re-connects with her Orthodox Jewish roots.
Knopf published Shapiro’s last novel, “Black & White,” in April and Christina Ricci’s production company has optioned it for a film.
According to Publishers Weekly, Shapiro’s new book will publish in early 2010.
I love reading Dani Shapiro’s columns, these last words in her article about impulse really touched me “We are creatures of impulse, all of us, and often impulses become habit. For instance: when I wake up in the morning these days, I go straight to the computer and check my Amazon number, as if, perhaps in the middle of the night Terry Gross or Oprah have interrupted regular programming to praise the virtues of Black & White,”
thanks for letting us know, drug addiction treatment.