The Ordinary Seaman
1999 Shortlist

The Ordinary Seaman

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

The Ordinary Seaman is a lyrical and spellbinding story of hope, despair, and the promise of love. Esteban, a nineteen-year-old veteran of the war in Nicaragua, has come to America with fourteen other men to form the crew of the Urus. Docked on a desolate Brooklyn pier, the Urus is a wreck and the men its prisoners. Esteban, haunted by the loss of his first love in the war, escapes from the ship to start a new life in the city. Francisco Goldman was raised in Boston and Guatemala and divides his time between New York City and Mexico. The Ordinary Seaman is his second novel.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Francisco
Goldman

Francisco Goldman is the author of four books–three works of fiction (The Long Night of White Chickens, The Ordinary Seaman, and The Divine Husband) and one work of non-fiction, The Art of Political Murder. His first novel, The Long Night of White Chickens, was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for first fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  The Ordinary Seaman, his second novel, was a finalist for the International IMPAC-Dublin Literary Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction. The Art of Political Murder was a New York Times 100 Notable Book of 2007 and a Washington Post Book World 100 Best Books of 2007. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fellow at the New York Public Library Center for Scholars and Writers, and he is currently Allan K. Smith Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. His fiction and journalism have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, The New York Review of Books, Outside, and many other publications. He lives in New York City and Mexico City.

Francisco Goldman is the author of four books–three works of fiction (The Long Night of White Chickens, The Ordinary Seaman, and The Divine Husband) and one work of non-fiction, The Art of Political Murder. His first novel, The Long Night of White Chickens, was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for first fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  The Ordinary Seaman, his second novel, was a finalist for the International IMPAC-Dublin Literary Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction. The Art of Political Murder was a New York Times 100 Notable Book of 2007 and a Washington Post Book World 100 Best Books of 2007. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fellow at the New York Public Library Center for Scholars and Writers, and he is currently Allan K. Smith Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. His fiction and journalism have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, The New York Review of Books, Outside, and many other publications. He lives in New York City and Mexico City.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
01/07/1997
Country
United States
Original Language
English
Publisher
Faber & Faber

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