Emmons, Josh 1973–

PERSONAL: Born 1973; married. Education: University of Iowa, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—New Orleans, LA. Agent—Susan Golomb, The Susan Golomb Literary Agency, 875 Avenue of the Americas, Ste. 2302, New York, NY 10001. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Has taught writing at University of Iowa and Loyola University.

AWARDS, HONORS: James Michener-Copernicus Society of America Award.

WRITINGS:

The Loss of Leon Meed (novel), Scribner (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Details, People, and San Francisco magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Josh Emmons's debut novel, The Loss of Leon Meed, was described as "an ambitious and, for the most part, successful first novel about loss, recovery, and the yearning for human connection," by Library Journal critic Patrick Sullivan. The book's title character is a man who is reported missing ten years after the deaths of his wife and daughter in a boating accident. Meed then spends a month mysteriously appearing and disappearing in the presence of various troubled residents of Eureka, a small coastal city in northern California. Emmons tells the stories of ten of these people, who include a pregnant, teenage Wiccan; a recovering alcoholic; a soon-to-be-divorced fourth-grade teacher; and a Mormon with an anger management problem. "Each character visited by Leon Meed receives equal narrative treatment by Emmons," noted a Publishers Weekly contributor, "which highlights his talent for subtle ventriloquism." Readers learn more about Meed, as well, and the losses that he has suffered, but this is not the dominant theme of the book. "Instead," a Kirkus Reviews critic commented, the book focuses on "the strange poignancy of inhabiting and moving through the bodies of its characters and in following them as they hope for things, lose them, then hope for new or different things."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2005, review of The Loss of Leon Meed, p. 373.

Library Journal, March 15, 2005, Patrick Sullivan, review of The Loss of Leon Meed, p. 68.

Publishers Weekly, April 25, 2005, review of The Loss of Leon Meed, p. 35.