Tom Rachman (born September 1974)[1] is an English-Canadian author. His debut novel was The Imperfectionists (2010), about a group of journalists working in Rome during the collapse of the traditional news media. The book became a global bestseller, published in 25 languages,[2] and Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, optioned the film rights.[3]
Tom Rachman | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Rachman in 2024 | |
| Education | University of Toronto (BA) Columbia University (MA) |
| Notable work | The Imperfectionists |
Early life and education
editRachman was born in London, England, and grew up in Vancouver, Canada. He studied cinema at the University of Toronto and obtained a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Later, in his 40s, upon realizing that he didn't want to continue writing fiction, Rachman enrolled in a master's program in behavioral science at the London School of Economics.[4]
Career
editRachman's first job in journalism was as an editor of international news at Associated Press headquarters in New York. Later, he was sent to the Rome bureau as a foreign correspondent. He moved to Paris to write fiction, and worked there at the global edition of The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune.[5] After publishing The Imperfectionists in 2010, he quit full-time journalism to write further novels while contributing non-fiction articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and The Atlantic, among other publications.[6]
His novel The Italian Teacher, about the troubled son of a famous American painter, was nominated for the Costa Award for best novel.[7] His collection of short stories, Basket of Deplorables, set during the Trump presidency, was nominated for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.[8] Rachman ghost-wrote the nonfiction book, We Are Bellingcat, with Eliot Higgins, founder of the online-investigative collective known for exposing Russian-state criminality, such as the Skripal poisoning.[9]
Rachman currently lives in London, and is a contributing columnist to the Canadian newspaper The Globe & Mail. His writing has twice been included in the Best Canadian Essays anthologies,[10][11] and was nominated for a 2024 National Newspaper Award.[12]
Personal life
editHis father was the psychologist Stanley Rachman, his brother is the Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman, and his sister Carla is an art historian; their sister Emily died of breast cancer in 2012.[13]
Works
editFiction
edit- The Imperfectionists (2010), longlisted for the Giller Prize[14] and winner of the Canadian Authors Award for fiction[15]
- The Rise & Fall of Great Powers (2014)
- Basket of Deplorables (2017), shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize for best collection of stories[16]
- The Italian Teacher (2018), shortlisted for the Costa Award for best novel[17]
- The Imposters (2023)[18]
Non-fiction
edit- We Are Bellingcat (2021) by Eliot Higgins (written with Tom Rachman)[9]
Notes
edit- ^ "The Imperfectionists - a novel by Tom Rachman - About Tom". Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ^ Bethune, Brian. "Tom Rachman's latest novel asks: can a great artist be a good father?". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Brad Pitt buys rights to 'The Imperfectionists'". EW.com. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ Rachman, Tom (7 October 2024). "I Was a Best-Selling Novelist. Then I Went Back to School". The New York Times.
- ^ "The Debut". University of Toronto Magazine. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Articles". Tom Rachman. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ Clark, Clare (25 December 2018). "The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman review – great art and monstrous selfishness". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Previous shortlists and winners". The Edge Hill Short Story Prize. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ a b Harding, Luke (1 February 2021). "We Are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins review – the reinvention of reporting for the internet age". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Best Canadian Essays 2023". Biblioasis. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Best Canadian Essays 2025". Biblioasis. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "All The Globe and Mail's winners and finalists for the 2023 National Newspaper Awards". The Globe and Mail. 26 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "How I mourned my sister through the books she left behind". Washington Post. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
- ^ "Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010 Announces Its Longlist". www.scotiabank.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Winners of CAA Literary Awards Revealed - The BPC". www.thebpc.ca. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Shortlist 2018". Short Story. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Shortlist for 2018 Costa Book Awards announced". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Review | For an aging novelist, the blurring lines of fact and fiction". Washington Post. 23 July 2023. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
- Christopher Buckley, "The Paper", The New York Times, 30 April 2010.
External links
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