Andrew Solomon - Publications and Career

Publications and Career

In 1988, Solomon began his study of Russian artists, which culminated with the publication of The Irony Tower: Soviet Artists in a Time of Glasnost (Knopf, 1991). His first novel, A Stone Boat (Faber, 1994), the story of a man's shifting identity as he watches his mother battle cancer, was a runner up for the Los Angeles Times First Fiction prize.

From 1993 to 2001, Solomon was a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression was originally published in May 2001, and has been translated into twenty-four languages. It was named a Notable Book of 2001 by The New York Times, and was included in the American Library Association's 2002 list of Notable Books. It won the National Book Award for Nonfiction; the Books for a Better Life Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; the 2002 Ken Book Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City; Mind Book of the Year; the Lambda Literary Award for Autobiography/Memoir; and Quality Paperback Book Club's New Visions Award.

Following publication of The Noonday Demon, Solomon was honored with the Dr. Albert J. Solnit Memorial Award from Fellowship Place; the Voice of Mental Health Award from the Jed Foundation and the National Mental Health Association (now Mental Health America); the Prism Award from the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association; the Erasing the Stigma Leadership Award from Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services; the Charles T. Rubey L.O.S.S. Award from the Karla Smith Foundation; and the Silvano Arieti Award from the William Alanson White Institute.

In 2003, Solomon's article, "The Amazing Life of Laura," a profile of diarist Laura Rothenberg, received the Clarion Award for Health Care Journalism, and the Angel of Awareness Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In April 2009, his article, "Cancer & Creativity: One Chef’s True Story," received the Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism by the International Association of Culinary Professionals; the story was also a finalist for the 11th Annual Henry R. Luce Award. Solomon's reminiscence on a friend who committed suicide won the Folio Eddie Gold Award in 2011.

In addition to his magazine work, Solomon has authored essays for many anthologies and books of criticism, and his work has been featured on National Public Radio's Moth Radio Hour.

Solomon's newest book, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, about how families accommodate children with physical, mental and social disabilities, was published in November 2012. The writing of the book has been supported by residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, Ucross Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center; at MacDowell, he was the a DeWitt Wallace/Reader’s Digest Fellow and later the Stanford Calderwood fellow. The book was named one of the 10 best books of 2012 by The New York Times.