Acclaimed Novelist Edward P. Jones '72 Receives Glowing Review in The New York Times

The New York Times



New York Times critic at large A.O. Scott describes the prose of acclaimed author and Holy Cross alumnus Edward P. Jones '72 as "always exacting in its observation and meticulous in its accounting, even when it evokes natural mysteries and complex emotions." "The world he invites us to know is scrupulously documented and carefully quantified."

An ode to one of Washington, D.C.'s literary giants, the recent piece analyzes Jones' award-winning works as well as the significant influences that have shaped his craft.

Edward P. Jones has produced three works of fiction in the past two decades, the short-story collections "Lost in the City" (1992) and "All Aunt Hagar’s Children" (2006), and his epic novel about black slave owners and the effects of slavery, "The Known World."

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Jones has made the city and its African American community the subject of most of his fiction, for which he received many honors, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, a MacArthur Fellowship and the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the art of the short story.

An English major while at Holy Cross, Jones teaches fiction writing at George Washington University.

To read the full article, go to NYTimes.com.