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WORK TITLE: The Little Clan
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.irismartincohen.com/
CITY: Brooklyn
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in New Orleans, LA; married; children.
EDUCATION:Columbia University, M.F.A., Mariposa fellowship; City University of New York, Writers Institute, studied creative nonfiction.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Columbia University, creative writing teacher; National Arts Club, organized a literary salon.
WRITINGS
Contributor of writings to New Yorker, Bookforum, New York Sun, Austin Chronicle, and Habitus.
SIDELIGHTS
Iris Martin Cohen writes contemporary fiction. She earned an M.F.A. in fiction at Columbia University, and now teaches creative writing there. She has published her writing in various outlets, including New Yorker, Bookforum, New York Sun, and Habitus. Cohen used her experience running a successful literary salon in the National Arts Club to color her 2018 debut book, The Little Clan.
The book is a coming-of-age story that pays homage to classical literature. Twenty-five-year-old Ava Gallanter is at home in the quiet recesses of the library at the Lazarus Club, an ancient Manhattan social and arts club full of geriatric residents. Ava’s bubbly and impulsive friend Stephanie is determined to get herself noticed and get Ava out into the world. Stephanie convinces Ava to start a literary salon to attract the rich and famous. Ava wants to call the salon The Little Clan, in honor of Proust, but Stephanie insists on the House of Mirth, which Ava considers bad luck. Soon, the House of Mirth is hosting elaborate parties masquerading as book readings that drain the two women, emotionally and financially. Ava begins to question her identity and her dreams to be a writer.
“Cohen’s charming debut sparkles with humor, heart, and an irresistibly irreverent love of books and bibliophiles,” noted a writer in Publishers Weekly. The writer added that Cohen presents vibrant and engaging characters with depth. In Booklist, Nanette Donohue commented that Cohen skewers the pretentious and superficial characters and that her “witty first novel will delight readers who enjoy quirky coming-of-age stories with a dash of highbrow humor.” On the other hand, Cory Oldweiler wrote on the amNew York website that the unsympathetic characters had a meaningful arc in the story, and that the book addresses too many big issues at once, such as white male privilege, female friendship, and sexuality “but they are drowned out in the revelry and recriminations.”
Online at Medium, Zachary Houle thought that Ava’s character was a ditz who took far too long to question her friendships, and Stephanie had few redeeming qualities. And there were too many embarrassing things that kept awkwardly happening to the women. Nevertheless, according to Houle, the book is well written and “Many important questions about the veracity of art emerge in this book, especially in a glittery, dot-com ruled world. To that end, The Little Clan is a curious read for the curious.” A Kirkus Reviews called the book a delightful domestic drama as “quirky characters surround Ava, whose mind is a fascinating place to visit as she learns to bring her love for all things literary into a world of shallow readers.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2018 Nanette Donohue, review of The Little Clan, p. 59.
Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2018, review of The Little Clan.
Publishers Weekly, January 8, 2018, review of The Little Clan, p. 37.
ONLINE
amNew York, https://www.amny.com/ (April 16, 2018), Cory Oldweiler, review of The Little Clan.
Medium, https://medium.com/ (April 16, 2018), Zachary Houle, review of The Little Clan.
Iris Martin Cohen has an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, where she received a Mariposa fellowship, and has studied Creative Nonfiction at the Writers Institute at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her work has been published in the New Yorker, Bookforum, the New York Sun, the Austin Chronicle, and Habitus. She has taught creative writing at Columbia University and volunteered at 826 Brooklyn. She ran a successful literary salon and event space in the National Arts Club for four years. Born and raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children. Iris is the daughter of Faulkner Society founding members, noted photographer Josephine Sacabo and fabulist, playwright, poet, and visual artist. Her debut novel so excited her publisher, Harper Collins, that the publisher paid a six figure advance for the book and gave Iris a two-book contract. We are just as excited and invite and highly recommend that you follow this literary shooting star.
Iris Martin Cohen grew up in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and studied Creative Nonfiction at the Graduate Center, CUNY. She currently lives in Brooklyn. The Little Clan is her first novel.
The Little Clan
Nanette Donohue
Booklist. 114.15 (Apr. 1, 2018): p59.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
* The Little Clan. By Iris Martin Cohen. Apr. 2018.336p. Park Row, $26.99 (9780778312826).
Ava Gallanter fits in perfectly among the quirky residents of the Lazarus Club, the charming nineteenth-century wreck where she both lives and works. When Ava's profligate pal Stephanie, a wannabe model, drifts back into New York, she brings with her an idea that could revitalize both the Lazarus Club and Ava's nonexistent social life: a literary salon called the House of Mirth. But while Ava envisions a gathering place for like-minded, highbrow readers, Stephanie sees an opportunity to raise her profile and get her picture in the New York Times style section. What begins as a great idea quickly turns to chaos as the chasm between the women's ideals expands, bringing the House of Mirth tumbling down. Cohen deftly skewers the pretentious (and often superficial) characters who inhabit this rarefied circle: the well-respected professor with a taste for attractive undergrads, the hipster carpenter, the starving poet, the bartender-communist, and Ava and Stephanie themselves--two polar opposites who need each other and can't stand each other in equal measure. This smart, witty first novel will delight readers who enjoy quirky coming-of-age stories with a dash of highbrow humor.--Nanette Donohue
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Donohue, Nanette. "The Little Clan." Booklist, 1 Apr. 2018, p. 59. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A534956904/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8319f1be. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A534956904
Cohen, Iris Martin: THE LITTLE CLAN
Kirkus Reviews. (Mar. 1, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Cohen, Iris Martin THE LITTLE CLAN Park Row Books (Adult Fiction) $26.99 4, 24 ISBN: 978-0-7783-1282-6
Raised on Edith Wharton and Sherlock Holmes novels, shy Ava Gallanter has found a home as the librarian for the eccentric and dusty Lazarus Club. Nestled amid vintage furniture and books, she's hoping to finally write her own 18th-century novel.
Unfortunately, so far her characters simply stare out of windows and at the floor. Ava realizes she has to make something happen not only for her fictional Agustin and Anastasia, but also for herself. Luckily, her vivacious friend Stephanie returns to town, spies a hidden door in Ava's library, and the two discover a secret room. Hoping to shake off her Nebraska roots and gain some glamour, Stephanie convinces Ava to renovate the room and open a private literary club. Entranced by the possibilities, Ava eagerly christens the salon The Little Clan, in honor of her beloved Proust, but Stephanie renames it The House of Mirth despite Ava's warnings that the name will bring bad luck. The hidden room turns out to be the perfect place to host parties straight out of The Great Gatsby. Funding is a problem precariously dependent on Stephanie's ability to mesmerize venture capitalists who may someday bring in the necessary funds--and until then, Ava can rack up debt on her very first credit card. Soon enough Ava has fallen for Ben--a talented artist Stephanie convinces to build a beautiful bar for the club but never pays--and the parties arouse the ire of the Lazarus Club's elderly members. Debut novelist Cohen has concocted a delightful domestic drama: Enigmatic Ben, irrepressible Stephanie, and lots of quirky characters surround Ava, whose mind is a fascinating place to visit as she learns to bring her love for all things literary into a world of shallow readers.
A charming tale sure to delight book lovers.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Cohen, Iris Martin: THE LITTLE CLAN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A528959956/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5d9f49a8. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A528959956
The Little Clan
Publishers Weekly. 265.2 (Jan. 8, 2018): p37.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Little Clan
Iris Martin Cohen. Park Row, $26.99 (320p)
ISBN 978-0-7783-1282-6
Cohen's charming debut sparkles with humor, heart, and an irresistibly irreverent love of books and bibliophiles. Ava Gallanter--young, unaware of her own attractiveness, and clinging to the outdated etiquette, clothing, and traditions of her favorite novels--works as a librarian at an old-fashioned Manhattan social club, The Lazarus Club, that caters to an aging clientele. The setting should be ideal for an aspiring author, but Ava can't seem to set pen to paper. When her beautiful, impulsive, and chaotically magnetic best friend, Stephanie, bursts back into her life, Ava trades her comfortable but stagnant solitude for a chance to build the bustling literary salon she's always dreamed of running. Unfortunately, their visions don't align. Stephanie drags Ava into a Gatsby-esque series of extravagant parties masquerading as book readings, leaving a trail of destruction--both physical and emotional--in their wake. Plunged into credit card debt, with both her employment and housing threatened, Ava begins to question everything she has always believed about herself, including her literary ambitions, her friendship with Stephanie, and even her sexuality. Without either the Lazarus Club's stability or Stephanie's schemes to hold her up, Ava must find a way to forge her own identity. Cohen's vibrant, engaging style gives her characters an appealing depth that will leave readers longing for a sequel. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Little Clan." Publishers Weekly, 8 Jan. 2018, p. 37. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A524502947/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6268f510. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A524502947
A Review of Iris Martin Cohen’s “The Little Clan”
A Novel About Readings
“The Little Clan” Book Cover
What does it mean to be a writer in the 21st century? Iris Martin Cohen’s debut novel The Little Clan seeks to answer that question. Yes, this is another book about writing, and, yes, it is set in New York City (groan!). Does the world need another book about whether or not the act of writing is sustainable in the here and now? Well, I’ll let you be the judge. As it stands, The Little Clan can be read as a book about female friendship and just how tentatively such friendships are built upon. You see, the book is about a writer named Ava — who, charmingly, writes using a quill pen, or rather doesn’t write at all, suffering from writer’s block. She works as a librarian at an exclusive posh club that is so exclusive and posh that it doesn’t seem to have any members younger than 65.
Enter her friend Stephanie, who has returned to New York after sojourning elsewhere. Together, the pair discover a disused room at the club filled with girlie magazines and old paint cans, and set out to revitalize the room and open their own literary salon in it. The differences between the two women, however, couldn’t be more acute. Ava probably hasn’t read a novel published after the year 1899, while Stephanie is more in tune with what’s currently in vogue. So whenever Ava decides to host an event in the space with a quiet and refined author, you know that Stephanie is going to step in and wacky hijinks will ensue.
This novel isn’t terribly long clocking in at just over 300 pages, but it took me a little more than a good week to get through it. I found it to be a rather tough slog. Ava is a likeable enough character, but she comes across as a bit of a ditz. It takes her a really, really, really long time to start questioning her friendships, and even then gets saddled with problems that result out of those codependent relationships. Stephanie, meanwhile, is a bit of a poseur, sort of the kind of high-powered careerist woman I knew when I was working in Toronto at a digital design firm, and, thus, has few, if any, redeeming qualities. Basing a novel around these two is a bit precarious. Honestly, at some point, I almost stopped caring what happened to these two because, as a pair, they’re quite — what’s the word for it? Nebbish? Vain? Impractical? I don’t know.
That’s not to say that The Little Clan is an awful book. It’s fairly well written. Readers who have read even more books than I have will enjoy the references to classic books and authors, with the odd new-ish author sprinkled in. It’s clear that Iris Martin Cohen knows her stuff. (The title of this book being reviewed here, in fact, is a reference to a literary work of fiction.) I really wanted to like this book for those reasons. However, it is the characters that left me cold. Ava hangs around with geriatric people at the club, and doesn’t have the sense to realize that opening a bustling, noisy, youthful salon in their club is going to ruffle some feathers. Stephanie always seems on the periphery of the action, meanwhile. We never really do know how she’s mysteriously connected to the upper crust, though it is hinted that her own ladder-climbing ambition has something to do with it.
A lot of time spent with The Little Clan will be time spent wincing. Embarrassing things keep awkwardly happening to Ava and Stephanie. I suppose it’s kind of cute in a way, but, despite the two characters being quite the Odd Couple, you do wish that good things would wind up happening to them. They do, but they’re intertwined with a lot of bad stuff, too. Essentially, The Little Clan is a literary version of Two Broke Girls, or how I would imagine Two Broke Girls to be like as I’ve never gotten around to seeing an episode of the show. (The closest I got was hearing it on the television in another room at my sister’s place while I was trying to sleep somewhere else.) In the end, the quest to open a 19th century-style reading salon in modern day New York ultimately feels a lot like attacking windmills.
The ending is also quite open-ended, and the main ingredients of the plot never get resolved. (Some mild spoilers follow.) What of Ava’s friendship or romance with a crafty man named Ben? It’s implied that they’ll be kind of friends, but the latter character drops out of the novel’s action. What of the new friendship that opens up with another woman in the latter part of the book? Not much is said about this. And, ultimately, will Ava and Stephanie remain on speaking terms? That seems muddy, too. There’s a whole lot that is left unsaid, making the novel feel more like a draft than a finished work of art.
That all said, the novel is mildly enjoyable if you’re one to delight in bad things happening to other people. (There’s a German word for this on the tip of my tongue — schadenfreude.) The Little Clan can be funny in this regard. I guess for me there was too much callousness in the book to really be pleased with it. That said, it was nice to read a book about writers in New York City that was female-based and not rooted in the patriarchy of men. All in all, The Little Clan is a bit uneven, but it had its charms. While it took me a longer time than usual to read this — and part of this could be chalked up to starting a new job while winding up tasks I have with an old one — I remain cautiously optimistic that someone out there may find this to be a gleeful read. Many important questions about the veracity of art emerge in this book, especially in a glittery, dot-com ruled world. To that end, The Little Clan is a curious read for the curious, and offers some promise for that difficult sophomore novel. Iris Martin Cohen knows a lot about art. Writing a book that enjoyably derives rich pleasure from it will be the next thing to cross off on her literary bucket list.
Iris Martin Cohen’s The Little Clan will be published by Park Row on April 17, 2018.
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‘The Little Clan’ review: Debut novel goes big but falls short
A highlight is the book’s depiction of the fictional Lazarus Club.
"The Little Clan" is Iris Martin Cohen's debut novel. Photo Credit: Park Row
By Cory Oldweiler
Special to amNewYork
Updated April 16, 2018 7:31 PM
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At the heart of Iris Martin Cohen’s debut novel, “The Little Clan,” is the fictional Lazarus Club, a once-grand Manhattan institution now grown geriatric. Ava Gallanter, just 25 years old, fits right in as the live-in librarian, preferring to pen her novel with quills and wear dowdy ankle-length skirts.
When her friend Stephanie returns to the city, the two fall into their familiar routine, with Ava following Stephanie to the hottest clubs and brunch locales. Eventually they decide to start a literary salon.
Cohen shows real love for her story and the memorable Lazarus Club, but it’s hard to share her affection, particularly for Ava. She is oh-so shy and just too busy daydreaming to actually act. And despite being a professional bookworm, she has only read 19th-century white male authors, plus some Edith Wharton.
Stephanie, a party-girl model whose need for buzz subsumes any literary interests, is not much better. She and Ava have hardships, but they also abuse the trust of everyone around them, don’t pay their debts and seem shocked when their selfish behavior is highlighted.
Unsympathetic characters are fine, but if they also lack a meaningful arc, they remain unsympathetic. A realization Ava has about her sexuality in the book’s final pages appears out of nowhere, a reaction to something Stephanie says. You’re happy for her, but it’s not going to solve her problems.
The book seems to want to say things about a lot of big ideas — the hegemony of white men in the “Western canon,” female friendship dynamics, race, sexuality — but they are drowned out in the revelry and recriminations.