Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik
Gopnik in 2014
Born	(1956-08-24)August 24, 1956 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Writer essayist commentator
Education	McGill University(BA)
Period	1986–present
Website
adamgopnik

Adam Gopnik(born August 24, 1956) is an American writer and essayist. He is best known as a staff writer forThe New Yorker,to which he has contributed non-fiction, fiction, memoir, and criticism since 1986.

He is the author of nine books, includingParis to the Moon,Through the Children's Gate,The King in the Window,andA Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism.In 2020, his essay "The Driver's Seat" was cited as the most-assigned piece of contemporary nonfiction in the English-language syllabus.

Early life and education

Gopnik was born to aJewishfamilyinPhiladelphiaand raised inMontreal.His family lived atHabitat 67.Both his parents were professors atMcGill University;father Irwin was a professor of English literature and motherMyrnawas a professor of linguistics.During a storytelling session forThe Mothin 2014, Gopnik explained that his paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother fell in love with each other, left their respective spouses and married.

Gopnik studied atDawson Collegeand then atMcGill University,earning a BA in art history. At McGill, he contributed toThe McGill Daily.He completed graduate work at theNew York University Institute of Fine Arts.

Gopnik studied art history and with his friendKirk Varnedoecurated the 1990High/Lowshow at New York'sMuseum of Modern Art.He later wrote an article forSearch Magazineon the connection between religion and art and the compatibility of Christianity and Darwinism. He states in the article that the arts of human history are products of religious thought and that human conduct is not guaranteed by religion or secularism.

Career

The New Yorker

In 1986, he began his long association withThe New Yorkerwith a piece that would show his future range, a consideration of connections among baseball, childhood, and Renaissance art. He has written for fourNew Yorkereditors:William Shawn,Robert Gottlieb,Tina Brown,andDavid Remnick.Gopnik has contributed fiction, humor, book reviews, profiles, and internationally reported pieces to the magazine. After writing his first piece for the magazine in 1986, Gopnik became the magazine's art critic. He worked in this position from 1987 to 1995, after which he became the magazine's Paris correspondent.

In 1995,The New Yorkerdispatched him to Paris to write the "Paris Journals", in which he described life in that city. These essays were later collected and published byRandom HouseinParis to the Moon,after Gopnik returned to New York City in 2000. The book became a bestseller onThe New York TimesBest Seller list.

After five years in the French capital, Gopnik returned to New York to write a journal on life in the city.Gopnik continues to contribute toThe New Yorkeras a staff writer. In recent years, he has written extensively aboutgun controlandgun violence in the United States.

Books

In addition toParis to the Moon,Random House published the author's reflections on life in New York, and particularly the comedy of parenting,Through the Children's Gate,in 2006.(As in the earlier memoir, much of the material had appeared previously inThe New Yorker.) In 2005,Hyperion Bookspublished his children's novelThe King in the Windowabout Oliver, an American boy living in Paris, who is mistaken for a mystical king and stumbles upon an ancient battle waged between Window Wraiths and the malicious Master of Mirrors.

A book onAbraham LincolnandCharles Darwin,calledAngels and Ages,followed in January 2009. In 2010, Hyperion Books published his children's fantasy novelThe Steps Across the Waterwhich chronicles the adventures of a young girl, Rose, in the mystical city of U Nork.

In 2011, Gopnik was chosen to deliver the 50thMassey Lectures,where he presented five lectures in five Canadian cities on the ideas expounded in his bookWinter: Five Windows on the Season.

His bookThe Table Comes First(2011), is about food, cooking and restaurants.

In 2019, he authoredA Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism,a nonfiction book published byBasic Books.

In 2023, he wrote “The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery” (published by Liveright).

Musical theatre

Gopnik began working on musical projects in 2015, as a lyricist andlibrettowriter. With the composerDavid Shirehe has written book and lyrics for the musical comedyTable,inspired by Gopnik's 2011 book; it was workshopped in 2015 at theLong Wharf Theatreunder the direction ofGordon Edelstein,featuringMelissa Errico.For a 2017 revival at the Long Wharf Theatre,Tablewas retitledThe Most Beautiful Room in New York.He wrote the libretto forNico Muhly'soratorioSentences,which premiered in London at theBarbican Centrein June 2015.

Other projects include collaborating on a one-woman show for Errico,Sing the Silence,which debuted in November 2015 atThe Public Theaterin New York, and included new songs co-written with David Shire,Scott Frankel,and Peter Mills.Future projects include a new musical with Scott Frankel.

Personal life

Gopnik lives in New York with his wife, Martha Rebecca Parker, and two children, Luke and Olivia. Martha's mother is Canadian filmmakerGudrun Parker.His five siblings includeBlake Gopnik,art critic forThe Daily Beast,andAlison Gopnik,a developmental psychologist and professor of psychology at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.

Honors and appearances

A guest onCharlie Rose,Gopnik has received threeNational Magazine Awardsfor Essay and Criticism, and aGeorge Polk Awardfor Magazine Reporting. His entry on the culture of the United States is featured in theEncyclopædia Britannica.

Gopnik participates as a member of the jury for theNew York International Children's Film Festival.

In 2015 Gopnik wrote and presentedLighting Up New York,a cultural journey through the recent history of New York for Britain'sBBC Fourand is a regular contributor to theBBC Radio 4weekly talk seriesA Point of View.

He taught at the annualIceland Writers RetreatinReykjavík,Iceland, in spring 2015.In 2016, Gopnik began a free lecture series at theLincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium, titledThe History of the World in 100 Performances.

Gopnik appears as himself in the 2022 filmTár,interviewing the film's lead character about her views on conducting atThe New Yorker Festival.

Bibliography

Main article:Adam Gopnik bibliography

External links

• Official website
• Stories told by Adam GopnikatThe Moth