Alexander Sammartino

Alexander Sammartino
Sammartino at the 2024 National Book Festival
Born1991 (age 34–35)
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
EducationSyracuse University
OccupationNovelist
Spouse
Kelley Rowland
​
(m. 2020)​
Awards5 Under 35 Honoree (2025)
Young Lions Fiction Award (2025)
Websitealexandersammartino.com

Alexander Sammartino is an American novelist currently living in Brooklyn, New York. In 2024, Sammartino published his debut novel, Last Acts, which the New York Times heralded as hilarious and exceptional.[1] Nylon magazine listed Sammartino's book as a must-read.[2] In 2025, he was a National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 honoree.[3]

Early life and education

Sammartino was born in Rhode Island and grew up in Arizona.[4][5] He majored in Philosophy and English at Syracuse University, where he also received his MFA in Fiction in 2018.[6][5]

Career

Last Acts (2024)

Set in Phoenix, Arizona, Last Acts is the satirical story of a father and son with "crackling prose and real depth of feeling."[7] The father, David Rizzo, owns a struggling firearm store that he is on the brink of losing and the son, Nick, is a heroin addict.[8] After a near fatal overdose, Nick reunites with his father and the two embark on a plan to save the father's business.[9] Nick makes a video advertisement for the store, confessing his recent overdose, and promising a percentage of each firearm sale to go to rehabilitation facilities and halfway houses.[10] The advertisement propels the store to local fame and controversy, and hijinks, hope and disaster ensues.[1][11]

Last Acts addresses several themes in contemporary American society — gun culture, the opioid epidemic, economic uncertainly, polarizing politics, racial inequity, and religious intolerance — with empathy, humanity and grim humor.[12][13][14]

Gallo (2027)

Sammartino's second novel, Gallo, is forthcoming from Scribner/Simon & Schuster in March 2027.[15][16]

Personal life

He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their cat, Godot.[4][5]

Awards and accolades

Last Acts won the 2025 Young Lions Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the 2025 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.[17][18]

Sammartino is the 2026-2027 Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow at the New York Public Library's Cullman Center.[15]

Bibliography

  • Last Acts. Scribner/Simon & Schuster. 2024. ISBN 9781982196769.
  • Gallo. Scribner/Simon & Schuster. 2027. ISBN 9781668074374.

References

  1. 1 2 Chaon, Dan (2024-01-23). "Who Says a Novel About Guns and Opioids Can't Be Funny?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  2. ↑ "January 2024's Must-Read Book Releases". Nylon. 2023-12-26. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  3. ↑ "The National Book Foundation Announces its 2025 5 Under 35 Honorees". nationalbook.org. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  4. 1 2 Frons, Jackson. "Last Acts, an Interview". Cleveland Review of Books. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  5. 1 2 3 "Alexander Sammartino". nationalbook.org. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  6. ↑ "Last Acts". Literary Hub. 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  7. ↑ "BOMB Magazine | Alexander Sammartino by Walker Rutter-Bowman". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  8. ↑ "LAST ACTS". Kirkus Reviews.
  9. ↑ "Last Acts". Goodreads. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  10. ↑ "Review: 'Last Acts' asks America how to find salvation". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on January 21, 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  11. ↑ Aprea, Jonathan (2024-05-29). ""Last Acts" Is a Father-Son Story Where Neither Man Knows How To Communicate". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  12. ↑ Peck, Claude (18 January 2024). "'Hilarious' and 'wrenching' novel 'Last Acts' depicts a hapless father and son". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  13. ↑ Yatchisin, George (2024-06-11). "Book Review | 'Last Acts' by Alexander Sammartino". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  14. ↑ Ripatrazone, Nick. "An Encore for Italian-American Fiction". www.thebulwark.com. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  15. 1 2 "Meet the 2026-2027 Fellows of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers". nypl.org. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Gallo by Alexander Sammartino". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  17. ↑ Salam, Sabah (2025-10-28). "Richard Ayoade among authors in running to have pig named after book". The Guardian. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  18. ↑ "Announcing Winner of the 2025 Young Lions Fiction Award". nypl.org. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
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