Background
Jennifer Banbury was born on December 26, 1966 in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, into the family of Richard and Catherine (van Aubel) Banbury.
Jen Banbury received Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) at Yale University.
Jen Banbury received Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) at Yale University.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316171107/?tag=2022091-20
1998
Jennifer Banbury was born on December 26, 1966 in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, into the family of Richard and Catherine (van Aubel) Banbury.
Jen Banbury received Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) at Yale University.
Jen Banbury is the author of the play "How Alex Looks When She's Hurt" and the novel "Like a Hole in the Head", created in 1998. "Like a Hole in the Head" is a mystery featuring a protagonist named Jill, who works at a Los Angeles book store called The Bitter Muse. A Los Angeles Times Book Review critic stated that Banbury “drives this Generation-X noir thriller like a danger-happy teenager on a joy ride.”
Lisa is on the job one day when a dwarf offers her a rare, signed first edition of Jack London’s "The Cruise of the Snark." Jill buys it and resells it at a handsome profit, only to find, in the words of a Publishers Weekly critic, “that it wasn’t the dwarf’s to sell.” After being threatened by a large hired thug named Joke Man, Jill reluctantly starts off in pursuit of the book — the former child actor she sells it to has by now inconveniently disappeared. In the course of this odyssey, the reader encounters with Jill such unusual characters as a Pakistani veterinarian, a film producer with political ambitions, and a water delivery man attempting to recover from alcoholism.
Many reviews of "Like a Hole in the Head" were positive. Though a Publishers Weekly reviewer felt its plot could have been tighter, the critic predicted that “fans of the neo-noir will appreciate this wry, outlandish debut.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor quibbled with the novel’s “arbitrary weirdness,” but nevertheless called it “a smoothly written debut, graced with neat turns of phrase.”
Nancy Pearl in the Library Journal noted that “Banbury has... grounded Jill nicely, so that she holds our interest throughout.” Booklist reviewer Joanne Wilkinson called “a hard-boiled heroine for our times.” Brian Morton, in the New York Times Book Review, stated that “Like a Hole in the Head is a lively send-up of the traditional mystery novel: it can be read as a slapstick answer to The Maltese Falcon.” Morton concluded that the novel “is an enjoyable debut from a gifted new writer."
After publishing plays and a novel, she turned to reporting in 2003, becoming a freelancer who has reported for NPR, Salon.com, and other organizations. In 2003 and 2004, she reported from Baghdad for Salon. On March 3, 2004, Salon published her story "Guantanamo on Steroids", one of the earliest articles about U.S. soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. It was listed as one of the "Best of Salon" for 2003. Her Salon reporting was cited and her story "Night Raid in Baghdad" was reprinted in "Boots on the Ground: Stories of American Soldiers from Iraq to Afghanistan" by Clint Willis.
Speaking about her religious beliefs, Jen says her religious devotion is “very little.”
Jennifer Banbury describes her political views as “very liberal.”
She was a member of Manuscript Society.
On May 23, 1998 Jen married a television writer Andrew Reich.
