Kyle, Aryn

PERSONAL:

Education: Graduate of University of Montana.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Missoula, MT.

CAREER:

Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

National Magazine Award for Fiction, for the short story "The Foaling Season."

WRITINGS:

The God of Animals (novel), Scribner (New York, NY), 2007.

Short stories have appeared in periodicals, including the Atlantic, Georgia Review, and StoryQuarterly; contributor to anthologies, including Best New American Voices 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her first novel, The God of Animals, author Aryn Kyle tells the story of twelve-year-old Alice Winston as she deals with a depressed mother who won't leave the bed, her own feelings over her older sister Nona's elopement with a rodeo cowboy, the drowning death of a classmate in a canal, and the potential loss of the family's horse ranch in Colorado. In the meantime, Alice is also conducting a telephone relationship with her male seventh-grade teacher, Mr. Delmar. "Kyle delivers the story in graceful, translucent prose, while the mood of the book is overwhelmingly bleak and steadily focused on the gathering storm," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor.

Other reviewers also praised Kyle's debut. Library Journal reviewer David Doerrer wrote that The God of Animals "brims with a confidence and assuredness atypical of a debut." Booklist contributor Keir Graff called the novel "a powerful tale, from a writer with real promise." In addition, several reviewers noted the author's ability at characterization. Francine Prose, writing in People, commented that the author "has a gift for creating character, for making even the most minor players in Alice's drama come alive." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that "Kyle imbues her protagonist with a genuine adolescent voice."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Keir Graff, review of The God of Animals, p. 29.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2006, review of The God of Animals, p. 1095.

Library Journal, December 1, 2006, David Doerrer, review of The God of Animals, p. 111.

People, March 26, 2007, Francine Prose, review of The God of Animals, p. 49.

Publishers Weekly, October 16, 2006, review of The God of Animals, p. 27.

Vogue, March, 2007, Megan O'Grady, review of The God of Animals, p. 450.

ONLINE

Aryn Kyle Home Page,http://www.arynkyle.com (May 17, 2007).

LockerGnome Reflections blog,http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/lockergnome/ (March 31, 2007), review of The God of Animals.

Simon & Schuster Web site,http://www.simonsays.com/ (May 17, 2007), brief profile of author.