Jaime Clarke

Not to be confused with Jamie Clarke.

Jaime Clarke
Born	Kalispell, Montana, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, editor
Education	Brophy College Preparatory Arizona State University University of Arizona Bennington College (MFA)
Literary movement	Postmodernism
Website
www.jaimeclarke.com

Jaime Clarke is an American novelist and editor. He is a founding editor of the literary journal Post Road.

Early life and education

Clarke was born in Kalispell, Montana, but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona where he graduated from Brophy College Preparatory. He attended Arizona State University as an English major, but flunked out while working as a runner for financier Charles Keating. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona and an MFA in creative writing from Bennington College in 1997.

Career

Clarke moved to New York City where he worked at the Harold Ober Associates literary agency. He quit his job after the release of his debut novel We're So Famous in 2001. Laura van den Berg on Clarke's work wrote, "Jaime Clarke has been one of our foremost chroniclers of obsession since his debut novel, We’re So Famous, appeared in 2001."

He subsequently wrote a trilogy of novels about the protagonist Charlie Martens: Vernon Downs, World Gone Water, and Garden Lakes (2016). He is also the author of the Golden Age detective novel, The Disappearance of Swenson’s Secretary: A Harold Ober Mystery under the pseudonym J.D. West as well as the memoir, Typical of the Times: Growing Up in the Culture of Spectacle, which is the basis for his microcast, Typical.

Clarke has taught creative writing at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and Emerson College.

Personal life

Clarke is married to Mary Cotton with whom he owns a bookstore in Newton Centre, Massachusetts.

Bibliography

Novels

• We're So Famous. Bloomsbury. 2001. ISBN 978-0747554226.
• Vernon Downs: A Novel. Roundabout Press. 2014. ISBN 978-0985881221.
• World Gone Water: A Novel. Roundabout Press. 2015. ISBN 978-0985881283.
• Garden Lakes. Roundabout Press. 2016. ISBN 978-0985881290.

As editor

• Clarke, Jaime, ed. (2007). Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1416934448.
• Clarke, Jaime; Cotton, Mary, eds. (2011). No Near Exit: Writers Select Their Favorite Work from Post Road Magazine. Dzanc Books. ISBN 978-0982631843.
• Lethem, Jonathan (2011). Clarke, Jaime (ed.). Conversations with Jonathan Lethem. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1604739725.
• Lehane, Dennis; Cotton, Mary; Clarke, Jaime, eds. (2012). Boston Noir 2: The Classics. Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1617751363.
• Clarke, Jaime, ed. (2013). Talk Show: On the Couch with Contemporary Writers. PFP Publishing. ISBN 978-0989237239.

Non-fiction

• F. Scott Fitzgerald's the Great Gatsby: Bookmarked. Ig Publishing, Incorporated. 2017. ISBN 978-1632460394.
• Typical of the Times: Growing Up in the Culture of Spectacle. Roundabout Press. 2022. ISBN 978-1948072083.

References

Works cited

• Post Road staff (2020). "Masthead". Post Road. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
• Smith, Brian (June 14, 2001). "Almost Famous". Phoenix New Times. Archived from the original on August 11, 2013.
• Van den Berg, Laura (April 2021). "The Chronicler of Obsession: Jaime Clarke's Minor Characters". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved July 23, 2021.

Further reading

• Clarke, Jaime (April 2015). "Jaime Clarke in Conversation with David Bezmozgis, Maud Casey, Ramona Ausubel, Hannah Pittard, Rebecca Makkai, Charles Bock, Brock Clarke, David James Poissant, and Lydia Millet". The Brooklyn Rail.
• Clarke, Jaime (May 11, 2016). "Why I Quit Being a Writer: Jaime Clarke on Saying Goodbye to the Writing Life". The Literary Hub.
• Cutter, Weston (April 2014). "The Rules of Obsession". The Brooklyn Rail.
• Keeler, Emily (September 30, 2013). "Author doesn't want you to buy his book on Amazon". Los Angeles Times.

External links

• Official website