Darin Strauss (born March 1, 1970) is an American writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Both of his novels were The New York Times Notable Books; Strauss is a 2006 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and he currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. He teaches writing at New York University, for which he won a "Outstanding Dozen" teaching award in 2005. Strauss has been called "a brave new voice in literature" by The Wall Street Journal, "a hugely talented writer with unlimited potential" by The Times of London, "one of the most sharp and spirited of his generation," by Powells Books, "sublime" and "brilliant" by The Boston Globe, "a magnificent and subtle writer" by Le Monde, a "master" by The Chicago Tribune, a novelist of "humor, humanity, and aching sadness" by The New York Times, "as lyrical as he is daring" by The New Yorker, "the most fearless of writers" by Salon.com, and "one of America's handful of young, great authors" by The Austin Chronicle. He is married to the Newsweek senior writer Susannah Meadows. His work has been translated into fourteen languages.
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Biography
Darin Strauss was born in the Long Island town of Roslyn Harbor; he attended Tufts University, where he studied with Jay Cantor. He received his MFA at New York University, where he studied with Peter Carey and E.L. Doctorow. His ALA Alix Award-winning best-selling 2000 first novel Chang and Eng -- a runner-up for the Barnes and Noble Discover Award, the Literary Lions Award, and a nominee for the PEN Hemingway award, among others -- is based on the lives of the famous conjoined twins. The rights to this novel were optioned to Disney, for the director Julie Taymor. Recently, the actor Gary Oldman purchased the rights from Disney. Strauss and Oldman are together adapting Chang & Eng for the screen. Strauss's second book, The Real McCoy (2002), was based on the life of the boxer Charles "Kid McCoy." A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year, The Real McCoy was also named one of the "25 Best Books of the Year" by the New York Public Library, and a "year-end favorite" by the Independent Small Book Sellers' Association. Strauss's third novel, "More Than It Hurts You," his first in a contemporary setting, is being published by PenguinPutnam in 2008. A book of short stories and non-fiction essays, Truth and Lies, is scheduled to follow later in that year. He has recently become, conincidentally for this author of "Chang & Eng," the father of identical twin boys.
Bibliography
Novels
- Chang and Eng (2000)
- The Real McCoy (2003)
Anthologies
- Lit Riffs (2004)
- The Dictionary of Failed Relationships (2004)
- Coaches (2005)
- A People's Fictional History of the United States (2006)
- An Encyclopedia of Exes (2004)
- (2007)
- Brooklyn Was Mine (2008)
Other
- Mr. Beluncle, by V. S. Pritchett; Strauss wrote the new introduction (2005)
