Elinor Lipman is the award-winning author of many novels, including The View from Penthouse B and The Inn at Lake Devine; one essay collection, I Can't Complain; and Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus. She lives in New York City.Lipman's new novel is Good Riddance.
From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: How did you come up with the idea for Good Riddance, and for the 1968 high school yearbook at the heart of the novel?Visit Elinor Lipman's website.
A: It began with a chance purchase at a flea market in Stormville, New York. My significant other, who’d grown up in England without yearbooks (at least not at the Quarry Bank School in Liverpool) bought it proudly for $12 when I wasn’t looking. “Why would you want this?” I asked. “Americana,” he said.
When he got it home and studied it, he realized that the book had belonged to the teacher and yearbook advisor to whom it was dedicated. As he studied it, he saw that she had attended reunions faithfully, and had made notes. Eventually I went through every page. But the story and the hanky-panky are...[read on]
The Page 69 Test: The Family Man.
The Page 99 Test: I Can't Complain.
The Page 69 Test: Good Riddance.
Writers Read: Elinor Lipman.
--Marshal Zeringue