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John Wray Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

John Wray

John Wray

John Wray Biography

John Wray is the author of Godsend, The Lost Time Accidents, Lowboy, Canaan's Tongue, and The Right Hand of Sleep. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, a Cullman Fellowship from the New York Public Library, and a Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellowship from the American Academy in Berlin, he was named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists in 2007. A citizen of the United States and Austria, he lives in New York City.



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Interview

In two separate interviews, one video, one text, John Wray discusses Lowboy, and the challenges of writing a book while riding on the subway.

An interview with John Wray about Lowboy

How does this differ from your earlier work?
Although they differ from each other tremendously, my first two novels could both be categorized as historical, if one felt like applying labels: this time, I wanted to write as contemporary a story as possible, and to tell it as simply as possible. A few years ago, I came across an article in an Australian newspaper, about a manhunt for an escaped prisoner whose antipsychotic medication was wearing off by the hour, and I felt drawn to the subject matter immediately. The material then determined the style and tone—as straightforward and crystalline as possible—the way strong material tends to do.

Why the change?
I’ve always admired film directors, like Stanley Kubrick or Billy Wilder, who could go from directing a thriller to a period piece to a romantic comedy without missing a step. Also, I’ve resisted drawing too directly from my surroundings and personal history in the past, and I wanted to investigate that resistance, to challenge it a little. So I put much more of myself, and of my family and certain childhood memories, into the book. The result makes me somewhat uncomfortable now, but it undoubtedly helped the ...

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Books by this Author

Books by John Wray at BookBrowse
Gone to the Wolves jacket The Lost Time Accidents jacket Lowboy jacket Canaan's Tongue jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for John Wray but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Junot Diaz

    Junot Diaz

    A graduate of Rutgers College, Junot Diaz is the author of Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao which won the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Lowboy

    Try:
    The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
    by Junot Diaz

  • Fernanda Eberstadt

    Fernanda Eberstadt

    Fernanda Eberstadt was born in New York City on November 10, 1960. Her maternal grandfather was the poet Ogden Nash. She is the daughter of the photographer and psychotherapist Frederick Eberstadt, who lives in New York City.... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Lowboy

    Try:
    Rat
    by Fernanda Eberstadt

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