Darin Strauss is an American writer whose work has earned aGuggenheim Fellowship and theNational Book Critics Circle Award. Strauss's 2011 bookHalf a Life, won the 2011NBCC Award for memoir/autobiography. His most recent book,The Queen of Tuesday, came out in August 2020. It was nominated for theJoyce Carol Oates Literary Prize.^[1]

Strauss was born in theLong Island town ofRoslyn Harbor. He attendedTufts University, where he studied withJay Cantor. After attending graduate school atNew York University, he played guitar in a band withJonathan Coulton.^{[citation needed]}

Strauss' 2000 first novelChang & Eng, – a runner-up for theBarnes & Noble Discover Award, the Literary Lions Award, aBorders Award winner, and a nominee for thePEN Hemingway award^{[citation needed]} is based on the lives ofconjoined twinsChang and Eng. It was aLos Angeles Times Best Book of the Year and aNewsweek Best Book of the Year.^{[citation needed]} The rights to the novel were optioned toDisney, for the directorJulie Taymor; the actorGary Oldman purchased the rights from Disney. Strauss and Oldman are together adaptingChang and Eng for the screen.^{[citation needed]}

Strauss's second book,The Real McCoy (2002), was based on the life of the boxerCharles "Kid McCoy." "The Real McCoy" was named aNew York Times Notable Book," and one of the "25 Best Books of the Year," by theNew York Public Library.^{[citation needed]}

It was after this novel that Strauss won aGuggenheim Fellowship in Fiction Writing.^[2][3]

Strauss's third novel,More Than It Hurts You, his first in a contemporary setting, was published by PenguinPutnam in 2008. Strauss blogged about his extensive book-tour forNewsweek, and was featured onThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson andGood Morning America.

Strauss appeared onThis American Life in a July 2008 episode titled "Life After Death," in which he talks about the effects of a traffic accident during high school, in which a classmate on a bicycle swerved in front of his car, and was killed. Although he could not have avoided the accident, and was not at fault, he still felt guilty, and it affected him for decades.^[4]

His next book,Half a Life is a memoir concerning that traffic accident; it was published byMcSweeney's in September 2010, and was excerpted inGQ magazine, andThis American Life, and also inThe Times andThe Daily Mail (UK).Half a Life was named anEntertainment Weekly Must Read and aNew York Times Editor's Pick—and a Best Book of the Year byNPR,Amazon,The Plain Dealer, andThe San Francisco Chronicle, among many others.Half a Life was called "a masterpiece" byRobert McCrum inThe Guardian,^[5] "one of the best books I have ever read" by Ali Catterall on theBBC,^[6] as well as "precise, elegantly written, fresh, wise, and very sad ... indicative not only of a very talented writer, but of a proper human being" byNick Hornby.^[7]

Half a Life won the 2011National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography).^{[citation needed]}

Strauss' most recent book,The Queen of Tuesday, is a hybrid of fiction, biography, and memoir, focused around an imagined love-affair between the author's grandfather andLucille Ball. It has received favorable reviews inThe New York Times,The Boston Globe,The Washington Post, theNew Yorker, and theLos Angeles Times.^{[citation needed]}The Millions declared, of the novel, "The best book yet from one of our best writers."^[8] In "New Pop Lit," Karl Wenclas wrote, "If Darin Strauss isn't the best contemporary American writer, he's near the top ... No one could write a better book!"^[9] OnNBC News, Bill Goldstein said "I love this book ... Brilliant."

The novel was aWashington Post Best Book of the Year, aThe Millions andLit Hub Best Book of the Year, and a finalist for theJoyce Carol Oates Literary Prize, as well as being featured onCBS Sunday Morning,NBC News,the CW, andPBS's Articulate.^[10]

Strauss has been called "a brave new voice in literature" byThe Wall Street Journal,^[11] and "one of the most sharp and spirited of his generation," by Powells Books, "sublime" and "brilliant" byThe Boston Globe.^[12]

Strauss is married to journalistSusannah Meadows, who writes a monthly Newly Released Books column forThe New York Times' daily Arts Section. He is the father of identical twin boys. He currently resides inBrooklyn, New York, and teaches writing atNew York University.^{[citation needed]}

• 2021:Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize, finalist (winner to be announced in April 2021)
• 2020: "Best Books of the Year,"The Washington Post
• 2020: "Best Books of the Year,"Literary Hub
• 2011:National Book Critics Circle Award, Winner
• 2011:New York University's Alumni Achievement Award, Winner
• 2010: "Editor's Choice,"The New York Times
• 2010: "Best Books of the Year,"NPR
• 2010: "Best Books of the Year,"The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)
• 2010: "Best Books of the Year,"Amazon
• 2010: "Best Books of the Year,"San Francisco Chronicle
• 2008: "Best Books of the Year,"Denver Post
• 2008: "Book of the Summer,"GQ Magazine
• 2006:Guggenheim Fellowship, Winner
• 2005: "Outstanding Dozen" teaching award,New York University, Winner
• 2002: "Times Notable Book,"The New York Times
• 2002: "25 Best Books of the Year,"New York Public Library
• 2000: "10 Best Novels of the Year,"Newsweek
• 2000:"Best Books of the Year,"Los Angeles Times
• 2000:ALAAlex Award, Winner
• 2000:Barnes & Noble Discover Award, Runner-up
• 2000:NYPL Literary Lions Award, Finalist

• Chang & Eng (2000)
• The Real McCoy (2002)
• More Than It Hurts You (2008)
• The Queen of Tuesday (2020)

• Half a Life (2010)

• Olivia Twist (2019)

• 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)
• Bloodshot: An Insomnia Anthology (2007)
• Brooklyn Was Mine (2008)
• Brothers (2009)
• The Book of Dads (2009)
• Top of The Order: Best-selling writers on Baseball (2010)

• Mr. Beluncle, byV. S. Pritchett; Strauss wrote the new introduction (2005)
• Long Island Shaolin, one of the firstKindle Singles—short works published by Amazon; other Kindle Single debut authors includeJodi Picoult andRich Cohen

• Radio Interview with Darin Strauss on "Read First, Ask Later" (Ep. 11)

• Official website