Snow Falling on Cedars

David Guterson is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, journalist, and essayist.   Before writing professionally, Guterson worked as a teacher for 12 years. It was during his teaching career that Guterson began to publish stories and essays in small magazines and periodicals, later selling pieces to Esquire, Sports Illustrated and Harper's Magazine.  In 1989, he published his first book, The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind, a comilation of ten short stories.  In 1992, he published an entirely different novel, Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense, which is a combination of essays on family and education. Next, he  released Snow Falling on Cedars in 1994.  This novel has been his most recognized one as it was the recipient of the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award and to date it has sold nearly four million copies.   The Drowned Son, a short story where a father deals with his remorse about his drowned son, came soon after in 1996. Following this book, Guterson published East of the Mountains in 1998.  A few years later, Our Lady of the Forest came out, it was revealed in 2003.  One of his latest novels, The Other came out in 2008.  Finally, Ed King was published just recently in 2011.

 

As for his personal life, Guterson was born May 4, 1956 in Seattle, Washington.  He also went to college in Seattle at the University of Washington (taking a Bachelor's degree in English literature and a Master's in Creative Writing)  Guterson married at the age of 23, toBefore teaching and writing, Guterson went bankrupt twice.  Once as a young man working for a firewood buisness, than in Europe where he lived with his wife and son in a volkswagon van.   They were forced to move back to Seattle due to fnancial struggles, and soon their family began to grow.  Guteson now has four kids and is 40 years old.   He currently lives on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound, close to the site of the fictional San Piedro Island.  He is still writing  avidly, contributing to the Harper's, and is a co-founder of Field's End, an organization for writers.  

 

David Guterson was highly influenced by his father who was a lawyer, this would explain why Snow Falling on Cedars has such an accurate trial.  The novel he claims to have affected his writing the most is To Kill A Mockingbird.  Snow Falling On Cedars followed very much the same structure and addressed the same concerns as Harper Lee's classic. Guterson's literature is largely influenced by his surroundings, as most of his books are set in his home state, Washington.  

"The heartbreaking beauty of the world speaks to me in a powerful way and I feel a constant compulsion to be in the presence of mountains, rivers, fields, coulees, canyons, breaks, draws, and woodlands."-Guterson