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Christian Bauman (born June 15, 1970) is an American novelist, essayist, and lyricist.
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Christian Bauman | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 15, 1970 Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Education | North Hunterdon High School |
| Period | 21st century |
| Genre | Novels and essays |
| Notable works | The Ice Beneath You, Voodoo Lounge, In Hoboken |
| Children | 2 |
Bauman was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 1970. He began grade school in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and moved to the Quakertown section of Franklin Township, New Jersey[1] when he was in the fourth grade. At age 17, he left home. Bauman's family traveled extensively in North America and Europe when he was a child. The family spent a year in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka between 1983 and 1984, when Bauman would have been in 8th grade. Bauman was raised by his stepfather, a philosophy professor, and his mother, a physician. His biological father was only an occasional presence in his life and spent a year in prison when Bauman was a child. In a 2003 interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, Bauman said his childhood was not a particularly happy one.
He graduated from North Hunterdon High School in Clinton Township, New Jersey, in 1988, and did not attend college.[2]
U.S. Army
In 1991, at age 21, Baumain enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving for four years. He was a member of the small U.S. Army boat field, Army Waterborne, deployed to Somalia from 1992 to 1993. In 1994, he was deployed to Haiti on the LSV-1. In both cases, Bauman was among the first American troops in the deployment, in the opening weeks of the Somalia mission, and within the first hour of the Haiti occupation.
Musician
Bauman wrote both songs and short stories during the 1990s. Some of the songs, including "Kismaayo", written in Mogadishu and mailed back to Jack Hardy, who then performed it at The Bottom Line, are in the Smithsonian's Folkways Collection of New York's Fast Folk recordings. None of Bauman's short stories from the time have been published.
Following his honorable discharge in 1995, Bauman spent the next few years writing and playing guitar on the North American folk circuit, both alone and as part of the group Camp Hoboken, which included folksingers Gregg Cagno and Linda Sharar. Bauman an opening act for Pete Seeger, Jack Hardy, John Gorka, Odetta, Cheryl Wheeler, and Livingston Taylor, playing at Godfrey Daniels, Passim, Eddie's Attic, The Iron Horse, and other venues.
Novelist
The Ice Beneath You
In 2002, Bauman published his first novel, The Ice Beneath You, which centers around the return of a young American soldier from Somalia. A few small sections of The Ice Beneath You were written in Somalia during Bauman's deployment there, but the majority was written between 1999 and 2000. The novel was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 2001, and published in 2002. In his book, What Every Person Should Know About War, author Chris Hedges called The Ice Beneath You "one of the finest books about life in the American army."
Voodoo Lounge
In 2005, National Book Award-winning writer Robert Stone wrote that Bauman's novel Voodoo Lounge, published in 2005 about a female soldier with HIV during the 1994 occupation of Haiti, said, "The prose in Voodoo Lounge reverberates in the white space around it." Bauman's first two novels are among the very small group of war-based literary fiction produced by a Generation X author.
In Hoboken
His third novel, In Hoboken, published in 2008, centers on a group of young musicians in the mid-1990s, and the mental health facility where one of them works. Critic Paul Constant, reviewing In Hoboken, wrote, "Bauman is an incredible writer. This is one of those books -- like Lethem when he's cooking, or Chabon at his most vibrant -- when every line snaps and propels you forward."
Other works
Between 2003 and 2006, Bauman's short essays appeared regularly on NPR's All Things Considered. The majority of his commentaries have been based on his four years as a soldier. He also has written about his origins as a writer, his daughters, and his time as a touring musician.
Bauman is the creative director of an advertising agency in New York City. He regularly updates his personal blog, including posts about progress on his two new novels.
Bauman's has two daughters: Kristina born in 1988 and Fiona born in 1999.
- In Hoboken (Melville House Publishing, 2008)
- Voodoo Lounge (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 2005)
- The Ice Beneath You (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 2002)
- War Is... (Candlewick, 2008); essay titled "Letter to a Young Enlistee"
- Living on the Edge of the World: New Jersey Writers Take On the Garden State (Touchstone, 2007); essay titled "The Commute (Hoboken 1996)"
- Not Like I'm Jealous or Anything: The Jealousy Book (young adult) (Delacorte, 2006); short story written with daughter Kristina Bauman titled "Everyone's Green About Something"
- Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times (Basic Books, 2005); essay titled "Not Fade Away"
- Bauman contributed to What Every Person Should Know About War by Chris Hedges (Free Press, 2003)
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