Editing Sara Paretsky

{{short description|American author of detective fiction}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name         = Sara Paretsky
| image        = SaraParetsky.jpg
| caption      = 
| pseudonym    = 
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1947|6|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Ames, Iowa]], U.S.
| death_date   = 
| death_place  = 
| occupation   = Novelist
| education    = [[University of Kansas]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[University of Chicago]] ([[Master of Business Administration|MBA]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])<ref name=StateNewsService>{{cite news |title=REVELS TO PERFORM 'THE BALLAD OF SCAVENGER GULCH' ON JAN. 28–29 |publisher=States News Service |date=Jan 25, 2011 |access-date=Nov 22, 2011 |url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=News&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC2&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CA247644165&mode=view&userGroupName=fairfax_main&jsid=ba7f9caafd3f7d2198df71cd5806a70b |id=Gale Document Number: GALE&#124;A247644165 |format=fee, via [[Fairfax County Public Library]]}} Gale Biography In Context.</ref>
| period       = 
| genre        = [[Crime fiction]]
| subject      = 
| movement     = 
| notableworks = 
| spouse       = {{marriage|S. Courtenay Wright|1976}}
| children     = 3<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Sara Paretsky |title=St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers
|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |year=1996 |access-date=November 22, 2011 |url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC2&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK2406000432&mode=view&userGroupName=fairfax_main&jsid=02fc35723fa8e96616a5e5de4d9eff9b |id=Gale Document Number: GALE&#124;K2406000432 |format=fee, via Fairfax County Public Library}} Gale Biography In Context.</ref>
| relatives    = David (father), Mary (mother)
| website      = {{URL|saraparetsky.com}}
}}
'''Sara Paretsky''' (born June 8, 1947) is an American author of [[detective fiction]], best known for her novels focused on the protagonist [[V. I. Warshawski]].

==Life and career==
Paretsky was born in [[Ames, Iowa]]. Her father was a microbiologist and moved the family to [[Kansas]] in 1951 after taking a job at the [[University of Kansas]], where Paretsky eventually graduated. The family rented an old farm house. Her relationship with her parents was strained; her mother was an [[alcoholic]] and her father was a harsh disciplinarian.<ref>Sarah Crown, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/07/sara-paretsky-interview-i-start-each-vi-warshawski-book-convinced-i-cant-do-it Sara Paretsky interview: ‘I start each VI Warshawski book convinced I can’t do it’], The Guardian, 7 August 2015.</ref>

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in [[political science]] from the [[University of Kansas]], she did [[community service]] work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She completed her AM (masters) degree at the [[University of Chicago]] in 1969 and completed a Ph.D. in history there in 1977; her dissertation was titled "The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War". She also earned an [[Master of Business Administration|MBA]] in 1977 from the [[University of Chicago Booth School of Business]].

Her husband, Courtenay Wright, was a professor of [[physics]] at the University of Chicago; the two were together from 1970 until his death in 2018.<ref>Maureen O'Donnell, "Courtenay Wright, University of Chicago physicist, witness to D-Day, dead at 95", ''Chicago Sun Times'', [https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/courtenay-wright-sara-paretsky-university-chicago-physicist-dday-witness-obituary/  Nov 26, 2018]</ref>

Paretsky is an alumna of the [[Ragdale|Ragdale Foundation]].<ref name="Ragdale">{{cite web | year = 2010 | url = http://www.ragdale.org/fictionoz | title = Ragdale Alumni: Writers – Fiction – O-Z | publisher = Ragdale Foundation website | access-date = February 15, 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718020204/http://www.ragdale.org/fictionoz | archive-date = July 18, 2011 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> She was to appear in an amateur light opera production in 2011.<ref name=StateNewsService/>

The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is the female [[private investigator]] [[V.I. Warshawski]], and the author is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel.<ref name=Martin>Martin, Nora (1996). ''[http://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/3/ ""In the business of believing women's stories": Feminism through detective fiction (Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton)"]'' (M.A. thesis) Wilfrid Laurier University</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kinsman |first1=Margaret |title=Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction |date=2016 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-7187-4 |url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/sara-paretsky/ |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>  The Winter 2007 issue of ''Clues: A Journal of Detection'' is devoted to her work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staff.cua.edu/foxwell/Clues/About_Clues.html |title=Clues: A Journal of Detection   |publisher=Staff.cua.edu |access-date=March 5, 2012}}</ref> She is also considered the founding mother of [[Sisters in Crime]], an organization that supports and promotes women in the mystery field.<ref>{{cite web|last=Roberts|first=Lora|title=A History of Sisters in Crime|url=http://www.sistersincrime.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=5|access-date=28 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825145544/http://www.sistersincrime.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=5|archive-date=August 25, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Novels===
*''[[Indemnity Only]]'' (1982) {{ISBN|0385272138}}
*''[[Deadlock (novel)|Deadlock]]'' (1984) {{ISBN|0385279337}}
*''Killing Orders'' (1985) {{ISBN|068804820X}}
*''Bitter Medicine'' (1987) {{ISBN|0688064485}}
*''[[Blood Shot (novel)|Blood Shot]]'' (1988)  {{ISBN|0440500354}} (Published in the UK as ''Toxic Shock'')
*''Burn Marks'' (1990) {{ISBN|0385298927}}
*''Guardian Angel'' (1992) {{ISBN|0385299311}}
*''Tunnel Vision'' (1994) {{ISBN|038529932X}}
*''Ghost Country'' (1998) {{ISBN|9780385333368}} (non-Warshawski novel)
*''Hard Time'' (1999) {{ISBN|0385313632}}
*''Total Recall'' (2001) {{ISBN|0385313667}}
*''[[Blacklist (novel)|Blacklist]]'' (2003) {{ISBN|0399150854}}
*''Fire Sale'' (2005) {{ISBN|9780739455944}}
*''Bleeding Kansas'' (2008) {{ISBN|9780399154058}} (non-Warshawski novel)
*''Hardball'' (2009) {{ISBN|9781101133828}}
*''Body Work'' (2010) {{ISBN|9780399156748}}
*''Breakdown'' (2012) {{ISBN|9781101554074}}
*''Critical Mass'' (2013) {{ISBN|9781101636503}}
*''Brush Back'' (2015) {{ISBN|9780399160578}}
*''Fallout'' (2017) {{ISBN|9781473624337}}
*''Shell Game'' (2018) {{ISBN|9780062435866}}<ref>[https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/shell-game Reviewed by Elena Hartwell in ''New York Journal of Books'', 16 October 2018]</ref>
*''Dead Land'' (2020) {{ISBN|9780062435927}}
*''Overboard'' (2022) {{ISBN|9780063010888}}
*''Pay Dirt'' (2024) {{ISBN|9780063010932}}

===Short story collections===
* ''Windy City Blues'', Delacorte (1995).  {{ISBN|0385315023}}. 
** (Published in the UK as ''V.I. for Short'')
* ''A Taste of Life and Other Stories'' (1995), London: Penguin. {{ISBN|0146000404}}
*''Love & Other Crimes'' (2020). ISBN 9780062915542

===eBooks===
* ''Photo Finish'' (2000). {{ISBN|9781101537510}}
* ''V.I. x 2'' (2002) includes short stories "Photo Finish" & "Publicity Stunts".
* ''V.I. x 3'' (2011) includes both stories from V.I. x 2 and "A Family Sunday in the Park". {{ISBN|9781257416448}}

===Non-fiction===
*''Case Studies in Alternative Education'' (1975). Chicago Center for New Schools.
*''Writing in an Age of Silence'' (2007). {{ISBN|9781844671229}}
*''Words, Works, and Ways of Knowing: The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War.'' Chicago: [[University of Chicago Press]], 2016.

===As editor===
*''Eye of a Woman'' (1990). New York: Delacorte Press; 
**as ''A Woman's Eye: New Stories by the Best Women Crime Writers'' (1991)''.'' London: Virago.
*''Women on the Case'' (1997). {{ISBN|9780440223252}}; 
**as ''Woman's Other Eye'' (1996). London: Virago.
*''Sisters on the Case'' (2007). {{ISBN|9780451222398}}

==Awards and recognition==
* 1986 [[Anthony Award]] nomination for best novel, ''Killing Orders''<ref name="nominees">{{cite web |url=http://www.bouchercon.info/nominees.html |title=Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Awards Nominees |publisher=Bouchercon.info |date=October 2, 2003 |access-date=March 5, 2012 |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207060829/http://www.bouchercon.info/nominees.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 1989 [[Anthony Award]] nomination for best novel, ''[[Blood Shot (novel)|Blood Shot]]''<ref name="nominees"/>
* 1992 [[Anthony Award]] winner of best short story collection, ''A Woman's Eye''<ref name="winners">{{cite web |url=http://www.bouchercon.info/history.html |title=Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Awards and History |publisher=Bouchercon.info |access-date=March 5, 2012 |archive-date=September 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925053237/http://www.bouchercon.info/history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 2002 [[Cartier Diamond Dagger]] Award for lifetime achievement by the [[Crime Writers' Association]].
* 2004 [[Gold Dagger]] Award for [[Blacklist (novel)|Blacklist]] by the [[Crime Writers' Association]].
* 2011 [[Anthony Award]] Lifetime Achievement Award winner<ref name="winners"/>
* 2011 [[Mystery Writers of America#Grand Master|Grand Master]] by the [[Mystery Writers of America]]
* 2019 [[Mystery Writers of America]] Winner of Sue Grafton Memoriam, ''Shell Game''<ref>Edgar Awards category list</ref>
* 2021 [[Mystery Writers of America]] Nomination for Sue Grafton Memoriam, ''Dead Land''<ref>Edgar Awards category list</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.saraparetsky.com}}
* [http://www.blogtalkradio.com/modernsignedbooks/2017/05/17/msb--sara-paretsky-fallout Roger Nichols of Modern Signed Books interviews Sara Paretsky]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbRP6ftjFDU Interview with Sara Paretsky], ''Speaking of Mysteries TV Series'' (2001)
*[https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/429 Sara Paretsky papers] at [[Newberry Library|The Newberry]]

{{Agatha Award}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paretsky, Sara}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American mystery writers]]
[[Category:American detective fiction writers]]
[[Category:American women novelists]]
[[Category:Cartier Diamond Dagger winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Artists from Ames, Iowa]]
[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]] <!-- Ph.D. in History -->
[[Category:University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni]]
[[Category:University of Kansas alumni]]
[[Category:Novelists from Chicago]]
[[Category:Jewish American novelists]]
[[Category:Anthony Award winners]]
[[Category:Edgar Award winners]]
[[Category:American women mystery writers]]
[[Category:Novelists from Iowa]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]