Background

Adrienne Miller was born in 1972 in Columbus, Ohio, United States. She was raised in Akron, Ohio.

Education

Adrienne Miller graduated from Miami University.

Career

Circa 1994 Adrienne Miller began as an editorial assistant, became an assistant editor of Gentlemen's Quarterly magazine and served until 1997 in New York. She has spent much of her career working with other writers as the literary editor of the gentleman's magazine, Esquire (1997-2005).

Miller also wrote short stories in college, but she dismissed them as not particularly good. However, she later turned one of these stories into her first novel, The Coast of Akron (2005). The Coast of Akron is set in present-day Akron, Ohio, although the Akron depicted in her novel is a fictionalized version of the town. Parts of the story also take place in 1970s London. The plot revolves around internationally known painter Lowell Haven. Lowell, who only produces self-portraits, has not been working for about five years. Instead, he has focused his energy on throwing big parties.

Other characters revolve around Lowell and are used by Miller to explore complex ideas about family relationships. Among the cast of characters are Low-ell's ex-wife, Jenny Meatyard, who also works as an artist; their daughter, Merit, who is newly married, has a new stepdaughter, and is having an affair with a man she works with; and Fergus Goodwyn, Jenny's high-school friend and Lowell's long-time lover and benefactor.

In addition to Miller's own novel, she has also edited two anthologies of the fiction and nonfiction that have appeared in Esquire over the course of its history. About fifty short stories from both known and unknown authors are included in Esquire's Big Book of Fiction. A similar number of nonfiction and poems can be found in Esquire's Big Book of Great Writing: More Than Seventy Years of Celebrated Journalism.

Achievements

• Adrienne Miller is best known for her novel, The Coast of Akron. This work received high praise from reviewers.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Esquire's Big Book of Fiction

    (A definitive anthology of outstanding short fiction from ...)

    2002
  • In the Land of Men: A Memoir

    (A fiercely personal memoir about coming of age in the mal...)

    2020
  • The Coast of Akron: A Novel

    (In the thirty years since Lowell and Jenny met, Lowell ha...)

    2005
  • Esquire's Big Book of Great Writing: More than Seventy Years of Celebrated Journalism 2003

Connections

Adrienne Miller is married and has a son.