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Ryan McIlvain

Biography

Ryan McIlvain

Ryan McIlvain was born in Utah and raised in Massachusetts. His first novel, ELDERS, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and his work has appeared in The Paris Review, Post Road, The Rumpus and The Los Angeles Review of Books, among many other publications. A former Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford University, McIlvain now lives with his family in Tampa, Florida.

Ryan McIlvain

Books by Ryan McIlvain

by Ryan McIlvain - Fiction

When Eli first meets Sam Westergard, he is dazzled by his new friend's charisma, energy and determined passion. Both graduate students in New York City, the two young men bond over their idealism, their love of poetry, and their commitment to socialism, both in theory and in practice --- this last taking the form of an organized protest against Soline, a giant energy company that has speculated away the jobs and savings of thousands. As an Occupy-like group begins to coalesce around him, Eli realizes that some of his fellow intellectuals are more deeply --- and dangerously --- devoted to the cause than others.

by Ryan McIlvain - Fiction

For nearly two years, American Elder McLeod has spent his days in Brazil studying the Bible and the Book of Mormon. His new partner is Elder Passos, a Brazilian who found salvation and solace in the church after his mother’s early death. When a beautiful woman and her husband offer the missionaries a chance to be heard and put all of their practice to good use, they must confront their own long-held beliefs and doubts, and the simmering tensions at the heart of their friendship.