Illinois Authors

The Illinois Center for the Book banner

Matthew Thomas

Born: in New York
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Thomas earned his BA from the University of Chicago.

Biography: Matthew Thomas was born in the Bronx and grew up in Queens. A graduate of the University of Chicago, he has an MA from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and an MFA from the University of California, Irvine, where he received the Graduate Essay Award. He currently lives in New Jersey.


Awards:
  • '''''We Are Not Ourselves'''''
  • -- New York Times Bestseller
  • -- Notable Book of the Year, New York Times, 2014
  • -- Top 50 Fiction List, Washington Post, 2014
  • -- Ten Best Fiction Books, Entertainment Weekly, 2014
  • -- 5 Most Important Books of 2014, Esquire
  • -- Best Books

Primary Literary Genre(s): Fiction

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers

Email: matthewthomasauthor@gmail.com
Website: http://www.matthewthomasauthor.com
Matthew Thomas on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=matthew++thomas


Selected Titles

Holy war in the Bible :
ISBN: 9780830839957 OCLC: 857878954

The challenge of a seemingly genocidal God who commands ruthless warfare has bewildered Bible readers for generations. The theme of divine war is not limited to the Old Testament Historical Books, however. It is also prevalent in the Prophets and Wisdom literature as well. Yet it doesn't stop there. The New Testament book of Revelation is also full of similar imagery. The questions we are left with multiply. These controversial yet theologically vital issues call for a thorough interpretation, especially given a long history of misinterpretation and misappropriation of these texts. Yet this book does more. A range of expert contributors engage in a multidisciplinary approach that considers the issue from a variety of perspectives: biblical, ethical, philosophical and theological. -- Back Cover.

  We are not ourselves :
ISBN: 1476756678 OCLC: 862348423

"Born in 1941, Eileen Tumulty is raised by her Irish immigrant parents in Woodside, Queens, in an apartment where the mood swings between heartbreak and hilarity, depending on whether guests are over and how much alcohol has been consumed. Eileen can't help but dream of a calmer life, in a better neighborhood. When Eileen meets Ed Leary, a scientist whose bearing is nothing like those of the men she grew up with, she thinks she's found the perfect partner to deliver her to the cosmopolitan world she longs to inhabit. They marry, and Eileen quickly discovers Ed doesn't aspire to the same, ever bigger, stakes in the American Dream. Eileen encourages her husband to want more: a better job, better friends, a better house, but as years pass it becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper psychological shift. An inescapable darkness enters their lives, and Eileen and Ed and their son Connell try desperately to hold together a semblance of the reality they have known, and to preserve, against long odds, an idea they have cherished of the future. Through the Learys, novelist Matthew Thomas charts the story of the American Century, particularly the promise of domestic bliss and economic prosperity that captured hearts and minds after WWII. The result is a powerfully affecting work of art; one that reminds us that life is more than a tally of victories and defeats, that we live to love and be loved, and that we should tell each other so before the moment slips away. Epic in scope, heroic in character, masterful in prose, We Are Not Ourselves is a testament to our greatest desires and our greatest frailties."--

 

 

Accessibility