Helen DeWitt (born 1957 in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.) is a novelist. Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N  - Longitude 75° 03′ W to 79° 29... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - D.C. Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ...

DeWitt grew up primarily in South America (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador^[1]), as her parents worked in the United States diplomatic service. After a year at Northfield Mount Hermon School and two short periods at Smith College, DeWitt studied classics at the University of Oxford, first at Lady Margaret Hall, and then at Brasenose College for her D.Phil. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Northfield Mount Hermon School Northfield Mount Hermon School (NMH) is a ninth-twelfth grade private college preparatory school (secondary school) located in Northfield, Massachusetts, United States. ... Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, is the largest womens college in the United States []. Smith admits only female undergraduates, but admits both men and women as graduate students. ... Classics, particularly within the Western University tradition, when used as a singular noun, means the study of the language, literature, history, art, and other aspects of Greek and Roman culture during the time frame known as classical antiquity. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Brasenose College (in full: The Kings Hall and College of Brasenose) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ...

DeWitt is best known for her acclaimed debut novel, The Last Samurai. She held a variety of jobs while struggling to finish a book, including a dictionary text tagger, a copytaker, and Dunkin' Donuts employee, she also worked in a laundry service and read her beloved Proust. During this time she reportedly attempted to finish many novels, before finally completing The Last Samurai, her 50th manuscript, in 1998.^[1] The Last Samurai (2000) was the first novel by American writer Helen DeWitt. ... This article contains a trivia section. ... Dunkin Donuts is an international coffee and donut retailer founded in 1950 in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA by William Rosenberg. ... The name Proust can refer to: Antonin Proust (1832-1905), French journalist and politician Joseph Proust (1754-1826), French chemist Marcel Proust (1871-1922), French author This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...

In 2005 she collaborated with Ingrid Kerma, the London-based painter, writing "limit5" for the exhibition "Blushing Brides". This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

On 25 May 2004, DeWitt went missing from her home in Staten Island^[2] after sending a suicidal e-mail to Devereux Chatillon, formerly a lawyer with Miramax Books. DeWitt had negotiated a book contract with Chatillon in autumn 2003, explaining that certain clauses were dealbreakers because included to protect her sanity. DeWitt mentioned an obsession with Niagara Falls. Chatillon left for a new job without briefing DeWitt's editor, Jonathan Burnham (now at HarperCollins), on the contents of the contract. After months of attempts to enforce the contract DeWitt attempted suicide in her apartment, sending an e-mail to Chatillon which read Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Staten Island (IPA: ) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Logo used on Hyperion Books for Childrens official site Miramax (also known as Hyperion Books for Childrens) is the childrens division of Hyperion, the book publishing division of the Walt Disney Company. ... HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ...

Termination

Please call my cellphone, 917 xxx xxxx. If I don't answer you can assume that I am dead; in that case, please call my landlord, Silver Sullivan, on [number] and ask him to check my apartment. I have left my mother's name and phone number by the bed.

If there is no answer on that number his wife, Cynthia, can be reached on [number].

It would be helpful if you could also tell Sheila Kohler <e-mail address> that I will not be able to come to dinner on Wednesday.

DeWitt's first choice of method was unsuccessful. She sent an e-mail to Chatillon cancelling instructions for dealing with the body and took a train to Niagara Falls. Chatillon notified DeWitt's friend, Timothy Schmidt, who notified DeWitt's landlady, who notified the police, who notified the press. En route to Niagara Falls DeWitt received many cellphone messages from her mother, sister and ex-husband. On her way to book a train to Buffalo and flight to Washington, DC she was stopped by a member of the police and taken to the psychiatric ward of Niagara Falls hospital. DeWitt was told by the PR representative that the press was outside but her privacy would be protected. Upon departure of the PR representative DeWitt was compelled to admit herself overnight 'for observation', though her mother had flown up from Washington and had asked to take her home. DeWitt talked her way through a series of interrogations throughout the night, culminating in a successful interview with a psychiatrist in the morning; release was made conditional upon signature of papers agreeing to pay all hospital fees. The hospital made $1600 out of the transaction.

The press reported that she was found unharmed at Niagara Falls.^[3] Niagara Falls (French: ) is a set of massive waterfalls located on the Niagara River, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. ...

DeWitt now lives in Berlin where she has recently finished a second novel, Your Name Here, in collaboration with the Australian journalist Ilya Gridneff. DeWitt had met Gridneff in an East London pub shortly before her departure for New York; impressed by the linguistic virtuosity of his e-mails, she suggested a book inspired by Charlie Kaufman's "Being John Malkovich", with Gridneff as Malkovich. The book is in part a response to September 11, introducing Arabic to the reader; it draws on Gridneff's travels in the Middle East and work as a celebrity journalist, as well as on DeWitt's experience of the machinery of madness. She works with a small number of her collection of books, the majority of which are in storage in Leeds, London and Washington, DC. This article is about the capital of Germany. ... NY redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Recently, rights to make a film of The Last Samurai have been optioned by Tom Dey. Thomas Ridgeway Dey is a film director who directed popular Hollywood movies such as Shanghai Noon, Showtime, and Failure to Launch. ...

Novels

• The Last Samurai (2000)
• YOUR NAME HERE (2007)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Macgowan, James. "After 50 attempts, Helen DeWitt's brainy prose gets brawny cash advances", The Ottawa Citizen, CanWest Interactive, 2000-10-15. Retrieved on 2007-01-23. 
2. ^ Tavernise, Sabrina. "Metro Briefing New York: Staten Island: Novelist Is Reported Missing", New York Times - Late Edition, 2004-05-26. Retrieved on 2007-01-23. 
3. ^ Lemire. "Suicidal author found alive in Niagara Falls", New York Daily News, 2004-05-27. Retrieved on 2007-01-23. 

The Ottawa Citizen (established 1845) is an English-language daily newspaper owned by CanWest Global in Ottawa, Canada. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• DeWitt's Web page
• Synopsis to YOUR NAME HERE!