Sam VanNest

Vannest

Sam VanNest was first diagnosed with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a progressive neurological disorder, at age sixteen, and from then onward has been motivated to become a self-proclaimed professional nerd. He majored in English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and graduated in 2009 with a BA, then studied American Literature as a grad student at Washington College for a year, before going west to University of Oregon to study for a Ph.D. While there, he was especially focused on the representation of disability in American Literature, specifically in the modernist period, when notions of bodily autonomy were, at the very least, questionable. After three years in Eugene, Sam had progressed to the point that he had to make the difficult decision to come home to the Eastern Shore with an MA from UO instead of finishing his Ph.D. Sam is particularly interested in Hemingway these days because Hemingway seems to be in the cultural zeitgeist right now. Sam’s favorite publisher, W.W. Norton, has recently released a fantastic annotated edition of TSAR, and the three-part Ken Burns documentary on his life have brought Hemingway into a legitimate academic focus.

Detective.1
Floating Opera
Sun Also Rises (2)