Looking for a great read to delve into over Thanksgiving or winter break? Try Sloane Crosley’s debut novel The Clasp!
For Connecticut College students, Sloane Crosley ’00 is among the many examples of graduates finding success doing what they love. She serves as a figure that students can look at and say, “She was in my position once. I can do that.” Conn students (and their families) were lucky enough to have Crosley speak and read an excerpt from her latest book The Clasp during Fall Weekend this year. She had audience members of all ages laughing and enjoying themselves with her relatable sense of humor, and she followed up with a book sale and signing afterward.
Crosley’s experiences in the field of writing and publishing are numerous. Her work has appeared in Esquire, GQ, Bon Appetit, Playboy, Elle, W, Salon, The New York Times Book Review, New York Magazine, Vice, The Believer, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, The Guardian and National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” Before taking up writing as a full-time endeavor, she worked at Vintage/Anchor Books. She has taught courses at both New York University and Columbia University. Crosley focused her studies on anthropology and archeology at Conn until she realized her love of writing. Surprisingly, she was not a natural writer at first and had to work hard to hone her skills.
Although The Clasp (2015) is Crosley’s first novel, it is by no means her first masterpiece. Her collection of essays entitled I Was Told There’d Be Cake (2008), was extremely well-received and was a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor. Her other works include How Did You Get This Number (2010), an e-book entitled Up The Down Volcano (2011), The Best American Travel Writing (2011), and Read Bottom Up (2015), a joint effort with another author in which she writes under the pseudonym Skye Chatham.
The Clasp is about a group of friends that is reunited at a wedding after ten years apart. It draws on elements of Crosley’s time at Conn and includes flashbacks during which the characters revisit their college years. Conn students hope that this talented and hard-working alum keeps up the stellar work and continues to provide the rare blend of entertainment and insight that is so evident in her writing. To learn more about Sloane Crosley, visit www.sloanecrosley.com.