Laurel Zuckerman (born 1960) is an American author based near

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Biography

Zuckerman is originally from

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

, but now lives in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. She graduated from the

HEC School of Management HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fin ...

, a French business school. Until 2002, she worked in information technology. When the

dot.com bubble The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compos ...

burst, she decided to become an English teacher. She first became widely known after publication of her controversial French novel ''Sorbonne Confidential'' (

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

, 2007), a fictionalized account (with a strong autobiographical basis) of an American trying to obtain the '' agrégation'' (a competitive recruitment examination of the

French Civil Service The French Civil Service (french: Fonction publique française) is the set of civil servants (''fonctionnaires'') working for the Government of France. Not all employees of the state and public institutions or corporations are civil servants; howev ...

) in order to become an English teacher in the French public

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

system. The book is harshly critical of the French system and has generated considerable debate. The English version of the novel was published in 2009. Her most recent novel is ''Professor Collie's Barbarian Dreams'' (

, 2009), a humorous story about a historian so obsessed with the past that he forgets he lives in the present. Married, with two children, Zuckerman lives in

Bry-sur-Marne Bry-sur-Marne (, literally ''Bry on Marne'') is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune of Bry-sur-Marne is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, on ...

, and is a former member of the local city council. She is also the editor of Paris Writers News.

References

External links

Profile of Laurel Zuckermann

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

of London
From Paris: Books with French Twists
Huffington Post,
Book Review of ''Sorbonne Confidential''

Education Review ''Education Review'' is an open-access academic journal publishing reviews of books in the field of education. It was established in 1998 by Gene V. Glass, Nicholas Burbules (University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign), and Kate Corby (Michiga ...

''Interview with Laurel Zuckerman, Sorbonne Confidential''

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

, The World in Words program, episode 55
''Interview with Laurel Zuckerman, All I Wanted to do Was Teach English''
UCLA Radio
with Laurel Zuckerman, English Might Not be a Bad Thing''
UCLA Radio
Laurel Zuckerman

Weblog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

Interview with Laurel Zuckerman

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...

My English is Poor

Review of ''Sorbonne Confidential''
in L'Express (France) Magazine
Interview with Laurel Zuckerman
on

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

Review of ''Sorbonne Confidential''
in Le Point Magazine
Interview with Laurel Zuckerman
in Le Point Magazine: ''La faute à l'agreg?''
Review of ''Sorbonne Confidential''
in

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuckerman, Laurel 1960 births Living people American women novelists American emigrants to France 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers