Jen Beagin

Beagin grew up in Torrance, California, and moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, in her youth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/hole-in-one/Content?oid=2814208|title=Hole In One: Jen Beagin|last=Gutman|first=Jennifer|website=Chronogram Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-03-12}} She returned to college in her mid-30s,{{Cite web|url=https://electricliterature.com/somewhere-on-the-path-towards-self-awareness-an-interview-with-jen-beagin-81b433f1a6bd|title=Somewhere on the Path Towards Self-Awareness: An Interview with Jen Beagin|last=Ragsdale|first=Melissa|date=2015-12-17|website=Electric Literature|access-date=2019-03-12}} and attended the University of Massachusetts Boston.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/hole-in-one/Content?oid=2814208|title=Hole In One: Jen Beagin|last=Gutman|first=Jennifer|website=Chronogram Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-03-12}} She earned an MFA in Writing from the University of California, Irvine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanities.uci.edu/SOH/slide_det.php?id=654|title=UCI M.F.A. alumna Jen Beagin '11 receives Whiting Award in fiction|website=www.humanities.uci.edu|access-date=2019-03-03}}{{Cite web|url=https://sites.uci.edu/mfapublications/fiction-publications/|title=UC Irvine MFA Alumni Publications|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-17}}

Among other jobs, Beagin was a long time housecleaner. This inspired the character of Mona, who is the housecleaner protagonist of her first two books.{{Citation|title=Jen Beagin on How She Began to Write Fiction|date=2019-01-28|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Q7JcpSslCio|type=Video|publisher=Simon & Schuster|access-date=2019-03-12}}

Pretend I'm Dead, her first novel, received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews which also noted it among the Best Fiction of 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jen-beagin/pretend-im-dead/|title=Kirkus Review: Pretend I'm Dead by Jen Beagin|date=15 May 2018|website=Kirkus Reviews|language=en}} Pretend I'm Dead was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.{{Cite web|url=https://centerforfiction.org/book-recs/2018-first-novel-prize-winner-short-list-and-long-list/|title=2018 Short List for Fiction First Novel Prize|website=centerforfiction.org|access-date=2019-03-18}} The popular website Emily Books gave an early positive review of the book,{{Cite web|url=https://www.emilybooks.com/books/pretend-im-dead/|title=Pretend I'm Dead {{!}} Emily Books|website=www.emilybooks.com|access-date=2019-03-01}} the first edition of which was published by Northwestern University Press in 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/pretend-im-dead|title=Pretend I'm Dead {{!}} Northwestern University Press|website=nupress.northwestern.edu|access-date=2019-03-01|archive-date=2019-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307054201/http://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/pretend-im-dead|url-status=dead}} The novel was reissued as a hardcover in 2018 by Simon & Schuster.{{Cite book|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Pretend-Im-Dead/Jen-Beagin/9781501194429|title=Pretend I'm Dead|last1=Beagin|first1=Jen|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2018|isbn=9781501194429|pages=240|language=en}}

Vacuum in the Dark,{{Cite book|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Vacuum-in-the-Dark/Jen-Beagin/9781501182143|title=Vacuum in the Dark|last=Beagin|first=Jen|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2019|isbn=9781501182143|language=en}} a sequel to Pretend I'm Dead, received a starred Kirkus review and was named a best book for February 2019 by Oprah Magazine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a26102064/best-book-releases-february-2019/|title=These 4 Newly-Released Books Will Give You Plenty to Talk About at the Dinner Table|date=2019-02-12|website=Oprah Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-01}} Publishers Weekly has a starred review, calling it "a sharp and superb novel" that "pulls no punches—this novel is viciously smart and morbidly funny."{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781501182143|title=Fiction Book Review: Vacuum in the Dark by Jen Beagin|website=www.publishersweekly.com|access-date=2019-03-01}}

Big Swiss is about a woman who transcribes sex therapy sessions and how she falls for a client Flavia, the titular "Big Swiss".

Publishers Weekly Tip Sheet notes that "This unconventional love story has a surplus of appeal from page one."{{Cite web |date= |title=Big Swiss by Jen Beagin |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781982153083 |access-date=2022-10-15 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}}

Entertainment Weekly said: "Beagin stands out among fiction's fresh crop of promising voices."{{Cite web|url=https://ew.com/author-interviews/2019/02/26/jen-beagin-vacuum-in-the-dark-interview/|title=Jen Beagin on writing bad boyfriends, worse behavior, and a hilarious new literary hero|last=Canfield|first=David|date= 2019-02-26|website=EW.com|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|language=en|access-date=2019-03-01}} NPR Books says that "Beagin is a wonderfully funny writer who also happens to tackle serious subjects."{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/26/696814552/vacuum-in-the-dark-is-fun-funny-but-never-frivolous|title='Vacuum In The Dark' Is Fun, Funny — But Never Frivolous|last=Schaub|first=Michael|date= 2019-02-26 |website=NPR.org|publisher=NBR Books|language=en|access-date=2019-03-01}}

• 2017: Whiting Award for fiction{{Cite web|url=https://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/jen-beagin#/|title=Jen Beagin, 2017 Winner in Fiction|last=Beagin|first=Jen|website=www.whiting.org|access-date=2019-03-01}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/03/22/jen-beagin-fiction/|title=Whiting Honorees|date=2017-03-22|website=The Paris Review|language=en|access-date=2019-03-06}}
• 2018: Pretend I'm Dead shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.{{Cite web|url=https://centerforfiction.org/book-recs/2018-first-novel-prize-winner-short-list-and-long-list/|title=2018 First Novel Prize Shortlist|website=centerforfiction.org|access-date=2019-03-01}}
• 2019: Vacuum in the Dark shortlist for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/lifestyle/entertainment/wodehouse-prize-for-comic-fiction-returns-with-six-nominees/|title=Wodehouse prize for comic fiction returns with six nominees|last=Press Association|date=2019-04-17|website=Evening Express|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-04-18}}

• {{cite book|title=Pretend I'm Dead|last=Beagin|first=Jen|date=2018|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1501183935|page=|author-mask=1}}
• {{cite book|title=Vacuum in the Dark|last=Beagin|first=Jen|date=2019|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1501182143|page=|author-mask=1}}
• {{Cite book |last=Beagin |first=Jen |title=Big Swiss |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2023 |isbn=978-1982153083 |pages= |author-mask=1}}

• {{cite book|url=http://www.juked.com/2013/11/jen-beagin-the-blind-pig.asp|title=Juked, Issue 11|last=Beagin|first=Jen|date=2013|work=The Blind Pig|page=|author-mask=1}}

• {{cite book|url=https://www.powells.com/post/original-essays/bees|title=PowellsBooks.Blog: Original Essays|last=Beagin|first=Jen|date=2018|work=Bees|page=|author-mask=1}}
• {{cite book|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/79389-on-dogs-the-unique-hell-of-writing-novels.html|title=Publishers Weekly|last=Beagin|first=Jen|date=2019|work=On Dogs and the Unique Hell of Writing Novels|page=|author-mask=1}}

• {{cite book|url=https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a26455739/jen-beagin-vacuum-in-the-dark-house-cleaning-tips/|title=Oprah Magazine|last=Hart|first=Michelle|date=26 February 2019|work=10 Smart, Hilarious Cleaning Tips from Vacuum in the Dark Novelist Jen Beagin|page=}}

• "Yoko and Yoko" excerpt from Pretend I'm Dead (2016){{Cite web|url=https://louisville.edu/miraclemonocle/issue_eight/yoko-yoko|title=Yoko & Yoko|website=louisville.edu|publisher=University of Louisville Miracle Monocle, Issue #8|access-date=2019-03-12}}
• Excerpt from "Hole" in Pretend I'm Dead (2015){{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/03/22/jen-beagin-fiction/|title=Jen Beagin, Fiction|last=Honorees|first=Whiting|date=2017-03-22|website=The Paris Review|language=en|access-date=2019-03-30}}
• "Poop" excerpt from Vacuum in the Dark (2019){{Cite web|url=https://lithub.com/vacuum-in-the-dark/|title=Vacuum in the Dark|date=2019-02-26|website=Literary Hub|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-12}}

• {{Cite news|url=https://electricliterature.com/somewhere-on-the-path-towards-self-awareness-an-interview-with-jen-beagin/|title=Somewhere on the Path Towards Self-Awareness: An Interview with Jen Beagin|last=Ragsdale|first=Melissa|date=2015|work=Electric Literature}}
• {{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNvhcbDnArA|title=Jen Beagin reads from 'Pretend I'm Dead'|date=2017|work=(video) Whiting Foundation}}
• {{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7JcpSslCio|title=Jen Beagin on How She Began to Write Fiction|date=2019|work=(video) Simon & Schuster}}
• {{Cite news|url=https://electricliterature.com/jen-beagin-counters-the-bs-of-who-youre-supposed-to-be-in-your-20s/|title=Jen Beagin Counters the BS of Who You're Supposed to Be in Your 20s|last=Bartnett|first=Erin|date=2019|work=Electric Literature}}
• {{Cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/author-interviews/2019/02/26/jen-beagin-vacuum-in-the-dark-interview/|title=Jen Beagin on writing bad boyfriends, worse behavior, and a hilarious new literary hero|last=Canfield|first=David|date=2019|magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}

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Category:Living people

Category:American women novelists

Category:University of Massachusetts Boston alumni

Category:University of California, Irvine alumni

Category:21st-century American women

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:1971 births