Dean Bakopoulos
American writer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Dean Bakopoulos?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Dean Bakopoulos (born 1975 in Dearborn Heights, Michigan) is an American writer. He is a two-time National Endowment for the Arts fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow,[1] and writer-in-residence at Grinnell College. Bakopoulos has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.F.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also a faculty member in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers.
Dean Bakopoulos | |
---|---|
Born | 1975 (age 48–49) Dearborn Heights, Michigan, U.S. |
Occupation | Writer |
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Michigan (BA) University of Wisconsin–Madison (MFA) |
Spouse |
Please Don't Come Back from the Moon (2005) was his debut novel, about fathers in Maple Rock, Detroit abandoning their families under a strange compulsion to go to the Moon. It is narrated by the young Mikey, a would-be writer, whose father feels the same desire to leave. The New York Times said it "deftly weld[ed] magic realism with social satire".[2] Entertainment Weekly gave it a B− saying it turned into a very conventional coming-of-age story.[3] People gave it 3.5/4.[4]
In 2017, James Franco's Rabbit Bandini films released a film version of the novel, entitled Don't Come Back from the Moon, starring Franco, Rashida Jones, and Jeffrey Wahlberg. Bruce Thierry Cheung directed the film version, which was co-written by Bakopoulos.[5]
My American Unhappiness (2011), his second novel, is narrated by Zeke Pappas, a young man compiling an inventory of American unhappiness for a struggling non-profit organization. The New York Times found Bakopoulos charming but the book too frivolous and arch.[6] The Los Angeles Times found that some of the characters were one-dimensional, there only to advance the plot, but found the satire was pleasantly combined with warmth and affection for its subjects.[7]
Summerlong, his third novel, was published by Ecco in June 2015.[8] It was named a "best book" of 2017 by National Public Radio, which praised its sadly funny vibe, saying, "this book nails the entropy of adulthood."