Stephen Amidon (born 1959) is an American author and critic.

Life and career

Amidon was born in Chicago.[1] He grew up on the East Coast of the United States of America, including a spell in Columbia, Maryland, which served as the inspiration for his fourth novel The New City.[2][3] Amidon attended Wake Forest University as a Guy T. Carswell Scholar, majoring in philosophy.[4] He moved to London, UK, in 1987, where he was given his first job as a critic by Auberon Waugh, who invited him to review a novel for The Literary Review.[5] In 1999 he returned to the US.[6]

His literary criticism and essays have appeared in many publications in North America and the UK [7] and he has also worked as a film critic for the Financial Times and the Sunday Times.[8] In November, 2013, Amidon was on the jury of the 31st Torino Film Festival.[9] Amidon has written two non-fiction books: The Sublime Engine with his brother Tom, a cardiologist,[10] and Something Like the Gods [11] which is dedicated to his son, Alexander, a first-team, all-ACC wide receiver for the Boston College football team.[12][13]

In 2023, Wendy Smith of The Washington Post wrote, "Over the past three decades, Stephen Amidon has produced a series of novels as compulsively readable as they are hard-edged about such uncomfortable facts of American life as race, class and money."[14]

Stephen Amidon sold his first work of fiction in 1989, when the short story "Echolocation" was chosen by Ian Hamilton for inclusion in the Bloomsbury anthology Soho Square II.[15] He was awarded an Arts Council of Great Britain bursary for the short story in 1990. He is the author of a collection of short stories and seven novels, the most recent of which, Locust Lane, was released in 2023.[16] His fiction has been published in seventeen countries and has appeared on many best-of-the-year lists.[17] Amidon's novel Human Capital was chosen by Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post as one of the five best works of fiction of 2004.[18]

An Italian film adaptation of the novel Human Capital (Il capitale umano), directed by Paolo Virzì won best film at the 2014 David di Donatello, Nastro d'Argento, and Globi D'Oro Awards.[19] The film premiered in the U.S. at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival,[20] and was Italy's entry for best foreign language film at the 2015 Academy Awards.[21]

In February 2015, Teatro Stabile di Torino premiered 6BIANCA, a serial drama, written by Stephen Amidon and directed by Serena Sinigaglia.[22][23]

The Leisure Seeker, which Amidon adapted as a screenplay with Virzì, Francesca Archibugi, and Francesco Piccolo, premiered in completion at the 2017 Venice Film Festival.[24] The film stars Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland,[25] and the screenplay was nominated for Italian Golden Globe,[26] and David di Donatello awards.[27]

An American version of Human Capital, directed by Marc Meyers, adapted by Oren Moverman, and starring Liev Schreiber, Alex Wolff, Marisa Tomei, and Maya Hawke, premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[28]

January 2020, filming began in Italy on an adaptation of Amidon's novel Security, directed by Peter Chelsom, and starring Marco D'Amore, Valeria Bilello, and Fabrizio Bentivoglio.[29] Security was released in Italy in May 2021, and elsewhere in June by Netflix, on which it became a worldwide hit.[30]

Works

Novels

  • Splitting the Atom, 1990
  • Thirst, 1993
  • The Primitive, 1995
  • The New City, 2000
  • Human Capital, 2004; adapted into namesake Italian and American films (See below)
  • Security, 2009
  • The Real Justine, 2015
  • Locust Lane, 2023

Short story collection

  • Subdivision: Stories, 1991

Non-fiction

  • The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart, 2011
  • Something Like the Gods: A Cultural History of the Athlete from Achilles to LeBron, 2012

Screenplay

Plays

  • 6Bianca - episodes 1-6, 2015 Teatro Stabilie di Torino - directed by Serena Sinigaglia

Film adaptations

References

  1. ↑ "about". stephenamidon. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Amidon, Stephen (Jan 1, 2006). "A New Town Childhood". Urbanite (January). Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  3. ↑ "Interviews & Articles". Stephen Amidon. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Healing Reads". The Deacon Blog. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Campbell, Mark (February 2000). "Apocalyptic Times". Crime Time Magazine. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "Stephen Amidon's website". Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  7. ↑ "Bibliography". Stephen Amidon. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Search Times Online". The Times. London. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  9. ↑ "Home-39TFF". Torino Film Fest (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  10. ↑ Weintraub, Karen. "It's the Heart of the Matter". Boston Globe. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Zirin, Dave (November 2012). "Sports Authority". Book Forum. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Football Roster". Boston College Athletics. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  13. ↑ Atlantic Coast Conference. "All ACC Football Team". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Review | 'Locust Lane' is as perceptive as it is compulsively readable". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  15. ↑ "Anthologies Selected or Edited". Ian Hamilton. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  16. ↑ "Locust Lane". Celadon Publisher. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  17. ↑ "about". Stephen Amidon. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Yardley, Jonathan (December 5, 2004). "Jonathan Yardley's Favorites". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  19. ↑ "GRR - GR1 del 26/09/2021 05:00".
  20. ↑ "Tribeca Film Review: 'Human Capital'". 15 April 2014.
  21. ↑ "Italy Picks Paolo Virzi's 'Human Capital' As Its Foreign Oscar Contender". Variety. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  22. ↑ "6BIANCA". Teatro Stabile di Torino. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  23. ↑ Castellazzi. "Chiara". Il Sole 24ore. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  24. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (2017-07-27). "Venice Lineup Includes Films From Darren Aronofsky, George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro". Variety. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  25. ↑ "Helen Mirren's 'The Leisure Seeker' Bought by Sony Classics". 22 September 2016.
  26. ↑ "Stampa Estera - Le Cinquine". Stampa Estera (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-06-17.
  27. ↑ "Accademia del Cinema Italiano - Premi David di Donatello".
  28. ↑ "TIFF". Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  29. ↑ Scarpa, Vittoria. "Cineuropa". Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  30. ↑ Chelsea, Peter (29 June 2021). "I Finally Understand the Machine That is Netflix". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
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