THE SECRET LIFE's Ken Baumann to Release Debut Novel, 5/14

Actor Ken Baumann has always been a "literary nerd" - his own words - and can appreciate the bittersweet poetics of beginnings and endings...

Baumann, best known for his starring role in the groundbreaking ABC Family dramedy "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," will, within a three-week span, see the end of the popular series and the publication of his debut novel, Solip.

With the series finale set for Monday, June 3rd at 8pm, the longest-running (112 episodes) ABC Family show will say goodbye to Ken's 'Ben' and Shailene Woodley's 'Amy' and their five-plus seasons of teenage ups-and-downs.

Just a few weeks earlier on May 14th, Baumann will release Solip from publisher Tyrant Books. Currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com, Baumann's novel has been given the thumbs up by such literary colleagues as The New York Times-reviewed author Blake Butler, who offered up this description:

"Every sentence of Solip is a brazen little puzzle of heavy mystery, which when welded together as an object form the most compact and mask-faced take on the encyclopedic novel I can think of. In the ballroom with Sukenick and Lispector, it's one that continues to unfold, query, conflate, revealing slick black floors where you thought walls were."

Fans of Baumann's sweet, neurotic 'Ben' will be in for a complex, cerebral trip as they turn the pages of his literary feast for the senses.

Baumann's other television credits include the recent Lifetime film "Call Me Crazy" with Jennifer Hudson, Melissa Leo, and Melanie Griffith, as well as a recurring role on "Castle," a guest-starring turn on "Eli Stone," and several television pilots. His film credits include THE COTTAGE with David Arquette and WHORE.

In addition to acting and writing, Baumann is an animal lover and owns a rescued St. Bernard named Oscar and two cats - Kubrick and Bosch - with his wife, actress Aviva Farber. He owns and operates his own non-profit publishing house, Sator Press, a labor of love he created with the intention of publishing the offbeat, non-traditional stories he loves to read. Baumann is also outspoken on behalf of Crohn's Disease awareness, a condition he developed that hospitalized and nearly killed him in the spring of 2012.

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