Christian Bauman

Who is Christian Bauman?

Christian Bauman is an American novelist, essayist, and lyricist. A former soldier, Bauman is arguably best known for his critically acclaimed 2002 debut novel The Ice Beneath You, about the return of a young American soldier from Somalia. Of his 2005 novel Voodoo Lounge, National Book Award-winning writer Robert Stone said, "The prose in Voodoo Lounge reverberates in the white space around it." Bauman's first two novels are among the very small group of war-based literary fiction produced by Generation X. His third novel, titled In Hoboken, is a departure from the first two, centered on a group of young musicians in the mid-1990s, and the mental-health facility where one of them works. Reviewing In Hoboken, critic Paul Constant wrote, "Bauman is an incredible writer. This is one of those books -- like Lethem when he's cooking, say, or Chabon at his most vibrant -- when every line snaps and propels you forward." The covers of Bauman's first two novels carried quotes by Hubert Selby, Jr. and Robert Stone, respectively, and although his prose is stylistically different, there are clear parallels in Bauman's work to those writers. Christian Bauman's short essays appeared regularly on National Public Radio's All Things Considered between 2003–2006, as well as occasional longer nonfiction for IdentityTheory.com. Bauman is the creative director of an advertising agency in New York. He regularly updates his personal blog, including posts about progress on two new novels.