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Christopher Castellani

Goodreads Author

Born

in Wilmington, DE, The United States

December 07

Website

http://www.chriscastellani.com/index.php

Twitter

cdcastellani

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction

Member Since

October 2012

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Christopher Castellani is the author of five books, most recently the novel Leading Men, for which he received Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, MacDowell, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Leading Men was published by Viking Penguin, and is currently being adapted for film by Peter Spears (Oscar-winning producer of Nomadland) and Searchlight Pictures.

The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story, a collection of essays on point of view in fiction, was published in 2016 by Graywolf Press, and is taught in many creative writing workshops.

His first novel, A Kiss from Maddalena (Algonquin, 2003) won the Massachusetts Book Award; its follow-up, The Saint of Lost Things (Algonquin, 2005), was a BookSense (IndieBound) Notable Book; Christopher Castellani is the author of five books, most recently the novel Leading Men, for which he received Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, MacDowell, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Leading Men was published by Viking Penguin, and is currently being adapted for film by Peter Spears (Oscar-winning producer of Nomadland) and Searchlight Pictures.

The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story, a collection of essays on point of view in fiction, was published in 2016 by Graywolf Press, and is taught in many creative writing workshops.

His first novel, A Kiss from Maddalena (Algonquin, 2003) won the Massachusetts Book Award; its follow-up, The Saint of Lost Things (Algonquin, 2005), was a BookSense (IndieBound) Notable Book; the final novel in the trilogy, All This Talk of Love (Algonquin, 2013), was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Literary Award.

Christopher is currently on the faculty and academic board of the Warren Wilson MFA program and the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Since 2019, he has chaired the Writing Panel at YoungArts, aka the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists. For nearly twenty years, Christopher was in executive leadership at GrubStreet, where he founded the Muse and the Marketplace national literary conference and led the development of numerous artistic programs for adults, teens, and seniors. In 2015, he was awarded the Barnes and Noble/Poets & Writers “Writer for Writers” Award in recognition of his contributions to the literary community and his generosity toward fellow writers.

The son of Italian immigrants, Christopher’s work often centers the Italian, Italian-American, and queer experience. He was educated at Swarthmore College, received his Masters in English Literature from Tufts University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Boston University. A native of Wilmington, DE, he now lives in Boston and Provincetown, MA, where he is completing his fifth novel, Last Seen , with the support of a 2024 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Last Seen will be published in February 2026 by Viking Penguin. ...more

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Christopher Castellani’s books

Average rating: 3.63 · 5,200 ratings · 822 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	Leading Men 3.51 avg rating — 2,026 ratings — published 2019 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Kiss from Maddalena 3.73 avg rating — 951 ratings — published 2003 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Saint of Lost Things 3.50 avg rating — 933 ratings — published 2005 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All This Talk of Love (Grasso Family Trilogy #3) 3.74 avg rating — 842 ratings — published 2013 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story 4.03 avg rating — 349 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Last Seen 4.14 avg rating — 36 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Living (Kindle Single) (Ploughshares Solos Book 22) 3.32 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All This Talk of Love: A Novel 4.09 avg rating — 11 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ploughshares Solos Omnibus Volume 2 by Christopher Castellani (Goodreads Author), Kathleen Hill, Aurelie Sheehan (Goodreads Author) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Leading men did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Christopher Castellani

Grasso Family Trilogy (3 books)
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Christopher Castellani (Goodreads Author)

3.66 avg rating — 2,726 ratings

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Christopher Castellani rated a book it was amazing You Only Call When You're in Trouble by Stephen McCauley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A new Stephen McCauley novel is always a cause for celebration, and this one does not disappoint. Filled with McCauley's trademark wit and the sharpest of observations about human nature -- our foibles and eccentricities; the strong but elastic bonds ...more
Feb 11, 2026 10:08AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of You Only Call When You're in Trouble by Stephen McCauley. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — You Only Call When You're in Trouble by Stephen McCauley <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christopher Castellani rated a book it was amazing Brawler: Stories by Lauren Groff (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Another incredible collection by one of the masters of the form. These stories have mythic qualities but are always rooted in the most aching of human experiences. As with all Groff's work, not a word is out of place, and each moment burns with a kin ...more
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Christopher Castellani rated a book it was amazing Brawler: Stories by Lauren Groff (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Another incredible collection by one of the masters of the form. These stories have mythic qualities but are always rooted in the most aching of human experiences. As with all Groff's work, not a word is out of place, and each moment burns with a kin ...more
Feb 11, 2026 10:06AM · 2 likes · like · see review
Christopher Castellani rated a book it was amazing The Long Run: A Creative Inquiry by Stacey D'Erasmo	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Christopher Castellani rated a book it was amazing The Complicities by Stacey D'Erasmo	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Christopher Castellani rated a book it was amazing How Fires End by Marco Rafalà (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Christopher Castellani rated a book it was amazing Havoc by Christopher Bollen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Quotes by Christopher Castellani (?)

“I’m grateful for all you’ve brought to me, and for all you’ve brought me to, for all that you bring out of me.”
― Christopher Castellani, Leading Men

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“she would indeed like to tell that kind of story, except that it requires a plot, “the absolute line between two points which [she’s] always despised. Not for literary reasons, but because it takes all hope away. Everyone, real or invented, deserves the open destiny of life.” What’s despicable about the absolute line between two points is its danger of becoming a single story. For Paley, there was no “defining” experience of women or Jews or New York or activists or the 1960s, or of one female Russian Jewish activist-writer in New York in 1965. There were stops and starts, inconsistencies, loyalties forged and broken, discordant voices. People made themselves up as they went along. In the meantime, there was daily life to endure.”
― Christopher Castellani, The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story

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“But to forget completely is an insult. A dishonor to the people who loved you—”
― Christopher Castellani, The Saint of Lost Things: A Novel

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