George Bishop (5)
Author of Letter to My Daughter
For other authors named George Bishop, see the disambiguation page.
Works by George Bishop
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Loyola University
- Short biography
- GEORGE BISHOP, JR., graduated with honors in English Literature and Communications from Loyola University in New Orleans before moving to Los Angeles to become an actor. After eight years of commercials, stage plays, guest starring roles in TV sitcoms, and the lead in a dismal B-movie called Teen Vamp, he traveled overseas as a volunteer English teacher to Czechoslovakia.
He enjoyed the ex-pat life so much that he stayed on, living and teaching in Turkey and Indonesia before returning to the states to earn his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he won the Award of Excellence for a collection of stories.
After several years of teaching at UNC Wilmington, he moved back overseas, first on a fellowship with the Open Society Institute in Azerbaijan, then with the US State Department’s Office of English Language Programs in India. He last taught with a University of Montana program at Toyo University in Tokyo. George makes his home now in New Orleans.
His stories and essays have appeared in The Oxford American, Third Coast, Press, American Writing, and The Turkish Daily News, among others.
His first novel, Letter to My Daughter, was published by Ballantine Books in 2010. The Night of the Comet appeared in fall 2013, also with Ballantine. It has received widespread praise since its release, with glowing reviews in People, The New York Post, Kirkus Reviews, Shelf Awareness, and Publishers Weekly. It was a featured selection in Reuters “Book Talk” column, and was chosen as the September book of the month for National Public Radio’s “The Radio Reader.”
The Night of the Comet was named one of the “Best Books of 2013” by Kirkus Reviews.
Members
Reviews
The Night of the Comet by George Bishop was a compelling coming-of-age tale that shows us the hopes and heartaches of adolescence and the unfulfilled dreams that can divide a family. Set in a small southern town in 1973, Alan Broussard Junior enters high school, falls in love with a neighbouring girl, and has his geeky father for a science teacher. On his 14th birthday he receives a telescope from his father, in order to track the coming of a comet making it’s once in a lifetime show more appearance.
The Comet Kohoutek has captured the attention of the science world, including his father, who is so busy studying the skies that he fails to notice his wife is having an affair. While Junior dreams of Gabriella, his mother is dreaming of her father, Frank. It isn’t until his father becomes unhinged and his mother runs away that Junior lets his own fantasy life go in order to pull his family back together.
Well told and well written, The Night of the Comet is a fresh and vibrant story that captures complex family relationships and delivers a heart-wrenching story. I am partial to coming-of-age stories but this one is exceptionally well done. show less
The Comet Kohoutek has captured the attention of the science world, including his father, who is so busy studying the skies that he fails to notice his wife is having an affair. While Junior dreams of Gabriella, his mother is dreaming of her father, Frank. It isn’t until his father becomes unhinged and his mother runs away that Junior lets his own fantasy life go in order to pull his family back together.
Well told and well written, The Night of the Comet is a fresh and vibrant story that captures complex family relationships and delivers a heart-wrenching story. I am partial to coming-of-age stories but this one is exceptionally well done. show less
It's not often that one wishes a book were longer than it is, but I almost wish there was just a little bit more to this one. After her teenage daughter storms out of the house, Laura sets about writing her a letter in which she hopes to explain that she really does understand what it's like to be a teenager. Bishop manages to pack a lot of emotional depth into this story, while keeping the prose very direct and free of frills.
But I do wish the story had been extended just a bit. It's show more evident that Laura manages to salvage some kind of relationship with her parents; how did that come about? What happened after Laura graduated high school? How did she meet the man we know only as "your father," who is clearly not the boyfriend of Laura's teenage years, but with whom she seems to have a good marriage? It is one thing to let your daughter in on the secret that you were once a teenager too and can understand what she’s going through, but this story might have benefited if Laura were also able to let her daughter see the light at the end of the teenager-tunnel. show less
But I do wish the story had been extended just a bit. It's show more evident that Laura manages to salvage some kind of relationship with her parents; how did that come about? What happened after Laura graduated high school? How did she meet the man we know only as "your father," who is clearly not the boyfriend of Laura's teenage years, but with whom she seems to have a good marriage? It is one thing to let your daughter in on the secret that you were once a teenager too and can understand what she’s going through, but this story might have benefited if Laura were also able to let her daughter see the light at the end of the teenager-tunnel. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.The Night of the Comet is a coming-of-age story in 1973 when the comet Kahoutek made its journey around our sun. The Broussard family live in Terrebonne Louisiana. Although they all feel a certain amount of disappointment in their lives, they have learned to live with these disappointments, that is, until a wealthy family moves across the bayou from them. Then the Broussard family begins to fall apart fueled by the promise of something better that this new family seems to offer. But, like show more Kahoutek, which never burned as bright as was anticipated, this hope for better turns out to be just as illusory for the Broussards.
The story is told from the point of view of Alan Broussard Jr who had just turned fourteen. His father is obsessed with Kahoutek. A high school science teacher who dreams of being an astronomer, he gives his son a telescope to watch the comet. But Alan Jr would rather use it watch Gabriella, the new girl and his first (and unrequited) love. This year of the comet will have profound effects on the family. Their journey throughout the year follows the path of the comet: it starts out with much hope for a new and brighter future but, as it progresses along its path, and despite all their efforts, nothing seems to live up to this initial promise.
The Night of the Comet is a beautifully written tale of family quietly falling apart because of unrealized and unrealistic dreams and their inability to accept what they have because it doesn't burn as bright as the promises of youth. The characters are well-drawn and complex and it is hard not to empathize with them even when they are at their most self-deluded. The story is interspersed with interesting facts and legends about other comets and how they have always effected people either with fear or hope or longing but, in the end, they can never live up to our anticipation just as life rarely matches the futures we planned for ourselves when we were young and anything seemed possible. show less
The story is told from the point of view of Alan Broussard Jr who had just turned fourteen. His father is obsessed with Kahoutek. A high school science teacher who dreams of being an astronomer, he gives his son a telescope to watch the comet. But Alan Jr would rather use it watch Gabriella, the new girl and his first (and unrequited) love. This year of the comet will have profound effects on the family. Their journey throughout the year follows the path of the comet: it starts out with much hope for a new and brighter future but, as it progresses along its path, and despite all their efforts, nothing seems to live up to this initial promise.
The Night of the Comet is a beautifully written tale of family quietly falling apart because of unrealized and unrealistic dreams and their inability to accept what they have because it doesn't burn as bright as the promises of youth. The characters are well-drawn and complex and it is hard not to empathize with them even when they are at their most self-deluded. The story is interspersed with interesting facts and legends about other comets and how they have always effected people either with fear or hope or longing but, in the end, they can never live up to our anticipation just as life rarely matches the futures we planned for ourselves when we were young and anything seemed possible. show less
This coming of age novel takes place in 1973 Louisiana. It is narrated by Junior, looking back on the year he turned 14 and the Comet Kahoutek was due to light the skies. Junior's main focus in this story of his dysfunctional family is his father, Alan Broussard, a 40 year old high school science teacher who had long ago abandoned his hope to be a great astronomer. Instead, Alan trudges daily to his dull job, where he is a dull teacher, mocked by students and faculty alike. Junior is show more humiliated and embarrassed by his father. Then, the comet comes into their lives. At first, its impending arrival is an event of interest to Alan only. But little by little, excitement spreads to the entire town and its importance is life-changing. "...as the comet raced nearer, my father seemed to be growing in size himself. He was slightly bigger than before, bigger than life...It was as if he had finally fixed the focus on himself so that it was clear who he was. He needn't be ashamed of who he was; he was who he was. This comet, this lump of ice and gas, validated everything he'd ever stood for. It was evidence to the world that the life of Alan Broussard, a high school science teacher and amateur astronomer, hadn't been a waste after all." As the comet comes nearer and nearer, Alan's feverish excitement spirals out of control. His family begins to disintegrate and he can do nothing but await the comet's arrival.
I really liked this novel and was moved by Junior's desire to find something about his father, anything at all, of which he could be proud. show less
I really liked this novel and was moved by Junior's desire to find something about his father, anything at all, of which he could be proud. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Statistics
- Works
- 2
- Members
- 269
- Popularity
- #85,898
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 57
- ISBNs
- 58
- Languages
- 3
