“Be careful what you wish for. I know this for sure. Desires are brutal and ruthless things. They burn your tongue the moment they are spoken and you can never take them back.”-Alice Hoffman (Alice Hoffman Quotes, 2014). Alice Hoffman was born on March 16, 1952 in New York, New York. She grew up on Long Island, New York and graduated from high school in 1969 (Biography, 2014). Her parents divorced when she was young, but they both worked and attended college, and outside of their neighborhood, they were the only people attending college (O'Hara, 2014). Alice Hoffman attended two different colleges during her time in school. He attended Adelphi University and the Creative Writing Center at Stanford University. During his time at Adelphi University, Hoffman earned degrees in English and anthropology (Skylight Confessions Interview, 2014). Then, when she was 21, she went to Stanford University on a Mirrellees scholarship and earned an MFA in creative writing (Biography, 2014). Additionally, at age 21 Alice Hoffman wrote her first book, Property Of (Biography: Alice Hoffman, 2014). Now Alice Hoffman lives in Boston, Massachusetts with her husband and two children. Alice Hoffman is also a breast cancer survivor, which greatly influences her writing, and in 1999 she donated the money she had earned from her story Local Girls to build the Hoffman Breast Center. The Center is located at Mt. Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, MA (Meet the Writers: Alice Hoffman, 2014). For this reason, Alice Hoffman's writing is influenced by her phobias and the tragedies she goes through. Alice Hoffman has had many different people or situations influence her writing. Author Grace Paley was one of Al...... half of the paper ......esandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=698183O'Hara, M. (February 23, 2014). About Alice Hoffman: A Profile. Retrieved February 23, 2014, from PLOUGHSHARES: www.pshares.org/read/article-detail.cfm?intArticleID=7739Shapiro, H. (1988, September 12). PEOPLE. Retrieved February 23, 2014, from Facing Down Her Fears About AIDS Was a Risk-Filled Act for Novelist Alice Hoffman: www.people.com/people/article/0,,20099905,00.htmlSkylight Confessions Interview. (2014, February 23). Retrieved February 23, 2014, from Alice Hoffman: http://alicehoffman.com/books/skylight-confessions/interview/Survival Lessons. (2014, February 23). Retrieved February 23, 2014, from Good Reads: www.goodreads.com/books/show/17850559-survival-lessonsThe Dovekeepers Synopsis. (2014, February 23). Retrieved February 23, 2014, from Alice Hoffman: alicehoffman.com/books/the-dovekeepers/synopsis