Christian Bauman (born June 15, 1970) is an American
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
on June 15, 1970. He began grade school while living in
Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Doylestown is a borough and the county seat of Bucks County in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Trenton,
north of Center City, Philadelphia,
southeast of Allentown, and southwest of New York City.
As of the 2020 ...
, and moved to the Quakertown section of Franklin Township, New Jersey when he was in the fourth grade. He remained there until he left home at age 17. He graduated from
North Hunterdon High School
North Hunterdon High School is a four-year regional public high school serving students from six municipalities in northern Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, as one of two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High Sch ...
The Star-Ledger
''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...
'', March 15, 2010. Accessed June 29, 2018. "Christian Bauman, who graduated from North Hunterdon High School and spent a year couch-surfing in Hoboken after getting out of the Army, writes of that time in his novel ''In Hoboken,'' set in the mid-'90s, as the Mile-Square City transitioned from ''In the Waterfront'' to ''Friends,'' a river removed."
Bauman's family traveled a great deal around North America and Europe when he was a child. The family spent a year in India,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
, and Sri Lanka in 1983–84, when Bauman would have been in 8th grade. Bauman was raised by his stepfather (a philosophy professor) and 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
Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining N ...
on NPR's ''
Fresh Air
''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...
'', Bauman said his childhood was not a particularly happy one.
Career
A former soldier, Bauman authored the 2002 novel ''The Ice Beneath You'' about the return of a young American soldier from
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
-winning writer Robert Stone, writing about Bauman's 2005 novel ''Voodoo Lounge'' 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
Generation X
Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s a ...
. His third novel, ''In Hoboken'' (2008), is a departure from the first two, centered on a group of young musicians in the mid-1990s, and the mental-health facility where one of them works. Reviewing ''In Hoboken'', critic Paul Constant 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." Christian Bauman's short essays appeared regularly on
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'' between 2003 and 2006. Bauman is the creative director of an advertising agency in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He regularly updates his personal blog, including posts about progress on two new novels.
The subject matter of Bauman's first two novels was drawn from his experiences serving as a soldier in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
. He joined the army in 1991, at age 21, and remained in for four years. He was a member of the small army boat field (Army Waterborne), and served in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
in 1992-93 (on an
LCM-8
The LCM-8 ("Mike Boat") is a river boat and mechanized landing craft used by the United States Navy and Army during the Vietnam War and subsequent operations. They are currently used by governments and private organizations throughout the world. ...
), and Haiti in 1994 (on the LSV-1). In both cases, Bauman was among the first American troops in the deployment—within the opening weeks of the Somalia mission, and within the first hour of the Haiti occupation.
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 also included folksingers Gregg Cagno and Linda Sharar in its ranks). Christian was frequently an opener for acts including
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
John Gorka
John Gorka (born July 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1991, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."
Personal life
Gorka was raised in the Colon ...
,
Odetta
Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...
Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor (born November 21, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Boston and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he is the brother of singer-songwriter James Taylor, singer-songwriter Kate Taylor, singer ...
Eddie's Attic
Eddie's Attic is a music club in Decatur, Georgia. Founded in 1992 in music, 1992 by Eddie Owen (entrepreneur), Eddie Owen, it is a venue for both local musical talent and musicians of some acclaim who often got their start in the Atlanta area. ...
, The Iron Horse, and Freight & Salvage. This time period serves as the basis of Bauman's third novel, ''In Hoboken''.
Bauman wrote both songs and short stories during the 1990s. Some of the songs, including one called "Kismaayo", written in
Mogadishu
Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...
Fast Folk
''Fast Folk Musical Magazine'' (originally known as ''The CooP'') was a combination magazine and record album published from February 1982 to 1997. The magazine acted as a songwriter/performer cooperative, and was an outlet for singer-songwriters ...
recordings. None of Bauman's short stories from the time have been published. A few small sections of ''The Ice Beneath You'' were written in Somalia during Bauman's deployment there, but the majority was penned in 1999–2000; the novel was purchased by
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
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."
On
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, the majority of Bauman's commentaries for ''All Things Considered'' have been about the four years he was a soldier, but he has also written about his origins as a writer, his daughters, and his time as a touring musician.
Personal life
Bauman's has two daughters: Kristina born in 1988 and Fiona born in 1999.
Novels
* ''In Hoboken'' (
Melville House Publishing
Melville House Publishing is an American independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The company was founded in 2001 and is run by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians in Hoboken, New Jersey. T ...
, 2008)
* ''Voodoo Lounge'' (
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
* ''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)