BEATTIE, ANN

born Sept. 8, 1947, Washington, D.C., U.S. American writer of short stories and novels whose characters, having come of age in the 1960s, often have difficulties adjusting to the cultural values of later generations. Beattie graduated from the American University in Washington, D.C., in 1969 and received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut in 1970. Her short stories were published in The New Yorker and other literary magazines beginning in the early 1970s. Her first collection of stories, Distortions, and her first novel, Chilly Scenes of Winter (Head Over Heels: film, 1979) were both published in 1976. Beattie's characters are usually passive, alienated people who cannot extricate themselves from unsatisfying careers and lives. In detached, unemotional prose Beattie chronicles their unfulfilling lives and catalogues their possessions and favourite songs. There is little examination of motivation, and historical background is usually absent. Later collections of her stories include Secrets and Surprises (1978), The Burning House (1982), and Where You'll Find Me and Other Stories (1986). Novels include Falling in Place (1980), Picturing Will (1989), and Another You (1995). She also wrote a children's book, Spectacles (1985), which deals with the supernatural, and in 1987 she published Alex Katz, a collection of essays in art criticism.