Background
Fran Gordon was born in 1965 in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
Fran Gordon was born in 1965 in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
Fran has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (1986) from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (1996) from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Fran Gordon is a former instructor at Rutgers University and the New School University. She was also a member of faculty at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, and a visiting writer at American Academy in Rome.
Fran Gordon's debut novel, Paisley Girl (1999), is about a former rock band groupie who, after contracting a rare disease called mast cell leukemia that causes paisley-like marks to form on her skin, embarks on a journey of self-discovery. After learning that her doctors cannot cure her, the narrator - known only as Paisley in the story - is discharged from the hospital, armed only with some antihistamines that help prevent internal bleeding. She first visits her brother and then moves in briefly with her parents. Her parents, though, have trouble dealing with their daughter's illness, and so Paisley uses her old boyfriend Crash's credit card to travel to Barbados, where she hopes to attain some sort of peace before dying. Once there, she encounters colorful characters and becomes involved in cocaine smuggling. The drug trade in Barbados completes a theme of drug references throughout the book, from the drug culture of the entertainment industry with which Paisley had once associated with the prescription drugs involved in her medical treatment.
Fran directs the National Arts Club's PAGE reading series.
(Katie or Katje? A mysterious antique button - a family he...)
2006(Dazzling in its language, exquisitely moving and desperat...)
1999Gordon is a member of the National Arts Club.
