I was born in Washington DC and grew up in Los Angeles. Since then, I've lived in Iowa, Nicaragua, New Haven, and New York. I've worked as a baker, an office temp, an innkeeper, a tutor, and a medical actor. Every one of these was a world; they're still in me.

I've written a novel, The Gin Closet, and a collection of essays, The Empathy Exams. My work has appeared or will appear in places like Harper's, Oxford American, A Public Space, Virginia Quarterly Review, and The Believer. I'm a columnist for the New York Times Book Review, and I'm currently finishing a doctoral dissertation at Yale about addiction narratives. I live in Brooklyn, above a smoke shop.

Literary Representation

Jin Auh:

jauh [at] wylieagency [dot] com

Speaking Engagements

Trinity Ray

Tuesday Agency

trinity [at] tuesdayagency [dot] com

319-338-7080