Brinkman graduated from
Brown University and earned an MFA from
Goddard College. Recently, Brinkman has worked with children as a teacher and tutor, and has led workshops at
Mills College and 826 Valencia (a youth arts center in San Francisco). Brinkman is currently employed part-time at the
Booksmith, an
independent bookstore located in San Francisco. Upon its release in 2007,
Up High in the Trees earned positive reviews in the
Washington Post,
San Francisco Chronicle,
Los Angeles Times, and
Chicago Tribune (where it was named one of the newspaper’s "Favorite Books of 2007"). Writing in the
New York Times, novelist
Madison Smartt Bell noted, "Like Faulkner’s Benjy from
The Sound and the Fury, Sebastian is most unusual for the lyrical intensity of his inner life, and the strongest impression this fine debut leaves is his nicely achieved voice, which is moving without being precious." The book also received praise from writers
Cristina García, Maud Casey, and
Dave Eggers.
Up High in the Trees was released in softcover in the summer of 2008. In 2021, Brinkman will publish a graphic novel,
Lucy in the Sky, illustrated by her husband, Sean Chiki. ==References==