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« SPECIAL GUESTS AT LBC | Main | WARNER TWELVE'S FIRST THREE »

September 29, 2005

FRIDAY'S GUEST BLOGGER: CHRISTIAN BAUMAN

Cb We're going to start our weekend early tomorrow, and hand the reins over to Christian Bauman, who is going to stop in a chat a bit about his new book Voodoo Lounge.  Christian's a bright and entertaining lad, and we think you'll have fun with him.

Christian is author of the novels Voodoo Lounge (Touchstone, 2005) and The Ice Beneath You (Touchstone, 2002), a regular contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered, and an editor-at-large for IdentityTheory.com.  His fiction has been praised by novelists as diverse as National Book Award-winner Robert Stone and the highly original, late Hubert Selby, Jr. His debut The Ice Beneath You drew the attention of NPR’s Terry Gross, who devoted a broadcast of Fresh Air to the self-educated former soldier and folksinger, igniting a cult following for the previously unheralded novel.  His second novel, Voodoo Lounge, was released this month to a starred, boxed review in Booklist and must-read recommendations from Elle and Details.

Born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 1970, Christian grew up mostly in New Jersey, lived in India for a year when he was 13, and barely made it out of high school. A father at the age of 17—and working variously as a cook, house painter, laborer—he never attended college. He began writing at night on a typewriter given to him by his grandfather. When he joined the army at age 21, he switched from typewriter to notebook as he deployed from place to place: Fort Knox, Mogadishu, Kismaayo, Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Guantanamo Bay.

Vlcover His prose came from the lives of the people around him, characters on the fringe of poverty in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. In the U.S. Army, he was a member of the small Waterborne field, and deployed for expeditionary service twice, to Somalia (1992-1993) and Haiti (1994). In September of 1995 he was honorably discharged. Twenty-five, divorced, and civilian, Christian hooked up with an old friend from high school, songwriter and musician Gregg Cagno, who was living full-time on the folk and acoustic circuit. He spent the next four and a half years on and off the road.  When Christian’s second daughter was born in 1999 he quit touring and dusted off his old typewriter. At 29 years old, his novel of war and redemption, The Ice Beneath You, became the first published result. His third novel, In Hoboken, will be released in late 2006.

We hope you'll stop by and make him feel welcome.

Posted by TEV at 12:30 AM in Housekeeping |

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Christian Bauman

I'm taking bids now on topics we call all have fun skewering tomorrow. Shoot me your ideas to blmcwb at att dot net. See y'all tomorrow... -chris

Posted by: Christian Bauman | September 29, 2005 at 07:05 AM

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