Adam C. Begley[1] (born 1959 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American biographer. He was the books editor for The New York Observer from 1996 to 2009.[2]

Begley is the son of Sally (Higginson) and novelist Louis Begley. He graduated from Harvard College in 1982, and from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in English and American literature in 1989. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian,[3] The Times Literary Supplement,[4] The Spectator,[5] and The Atlantic.[6]

He lives with his wife, Anne Cotton, in Great Gidding, Cambridgeshire. His stepdaughter is the novelist and art critic, Chloë Ashby. He is the author of biographies of John Updike[7] and the 19th-century French photographer Nadar. His biography of Harry Houdini appeared in the Yale Jewish Lives series. He is a frequent contributor to the Paris Review's Art of Fiction series. He is currently at work on a book about Harvard College.[8]

Awards

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Works

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  • Literary Agents: A Writer's Guide. Adam Begley, Debby Mayer, Penguin Books, 1993, ISBN 978-0-14-017215-7
  • The Art of Fiction No. 135: Don DeLillo, Paris Review, 1993
  • The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors, Laura Miller, Adam Begley, Penguin Books, 2000, ISBN 978-0-14-028088-3
  • The Art of Fiction No. 173: Ian McEwan, Paris Review, 2002
  • The Art of Fiction No. 179: Jim Crace, Paris Review, 2003
  • Certitude: A Profusely Illustrated Guide to Blockheads and Bullheads, Past and Present, Adam Begley, Christopher Hitchens, Illustrator Edward Sorel, HARMONY, 2009, ISBN 978-0-307-40804-4
  • The Art of Fiction No. 204: David Mitchell, Paris Review, 2010
  • The Art of Finction No. 236: Ali Smith, Paris Review, 2017
  • Updike, Adam Begley, Harper-Collins, New York, 2014, ISBN 978-0-06-189645-3
  • The Great Nadar: The Man Behind the Camera, Adam Begley, Tim Duggan Books, New York, 2017, ISBN 978-1-10-190260-8
  • Houdini: The Elusive American, Adam Begley, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2020, ISBN 978-0-300-23079-6

References

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  1. ^ "Marisa del Rosario and Adam Begley Are Planning to Be Married In June". The New York Times. 9 January 1983.
  2. ^ observer.com[dead link]
  3. ^ "Adam Begley – Penguin Random House".
  4. ^ "American freestyle". TLS. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  5. ^ Begley, Adam (2019-10-31). "Meet Dr Love: the infallibly seductive, pioneering French gynaecologist". The Spectator. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  6. ^ Begley, Adam (2022-09-09). "Ian McEwan's Anti-Memoir". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  7. ^ "The Observer's Own Adam Begley to Write Updike Bio for HarperCollins | the New York Observer". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  8. ^ "A New York critic's gluttony for books and food". TLS. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  9. ^ "Adam Begley - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation". Archived from the original on 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  10. ^ "Former Biography Fellows".