John Searles
John Searles is an American writer and book critic. He is the author of four novels: Her Last Affair (ISBN 0060779659), Help For The Haunted (ISBN 978-0060779634), Strange But True (ISBN 0-06-072179-0) and Boy Still Missing (ISBN 0-06-082243-0). His essays have appeared in national magazines and newspapers, and he contributes frequently to morning television shows as a book critic. He is based in New York City.[1]
Life
Born and raised in New England, Searles is the son of a truck driver and stay-at-home mother.[2] After high school, Searles worked at the DuPont factory close to his hometown[3] of Monroe, Connecticut.[citation needed] He went on to pursue an undergraduate degree from Southern Connecticut State University, becoming the first member of his family to attend college, before entering a graduate program at New York University on a writing scholarship,[citation needed] where he won a number of fiction awards[3] and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing.[1][4]
Career
After completing his master's degree, Searles took a job at Redbook magazine reading fiction submissions.[3] He soon moved on to a part-time job in the books department at Cosmopolitan, where he went on to hold many positions including Books Editor, Executive Editor, Editorial Brand Director[3] and Editor-at-Large.[4]
Upon the 2001 publication of Searles’ first novel, Boy Still Missing, Time named him a “Person to Watch”[5] and the New York Daily News named him a “New Yorker to Watch.”[citation needed] His second novel, Strange But True, was named the best novel of 2004 by Salon.com.[5] Searles’ novel Help for the Haunted, published by William Morrow/HarperCollins[5] in September 2013, won the American Library Association Alex Award, was named as an Amazon Top 10 Mystery and Suspense Novel of 2013, a Boston Globe Top 10 Crime Novel of 2013, and an Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Must Read,[citation needed] and was hailed by author Gillian Flynn as “dazzling… a novel both frightening and beautiful."[5]
His essays have appeared in The Washington Post, the New York Times, and other national magazines and newspapers. He has featured frequently as a book critic on morning television shows including NBC's Today Show,[5] CBS’s The Early Show,[5] Live! With Regis and Kelly,[5] Charlie Rose,[citation needed] and CNN[5] to discuss his favorite book selections.
In 2019, a film adaptation of Strange But True was released by Lionsgate and CBS Films.[needs update]
References
- ^ Searles, John (September 16, 2013). "Gillian Flynn and John Searles on "Help for the Haunted"". Omnivoracious: The Amazon Book Review (Interview). Interviewed by Gillian Flynn. Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
- ^ a b c d softlightmedia. "John Searles". www.john-searles.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
- ^ a b "Algonquin Talks with John Searles, Today show Book Critic and Cosmo Editor-at-Large". Algonquin Books - Books For A Well-Read Life. Workman Publishing Company. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "A Conversation with Novelist John Searles". Stay Thirsty Magazine. Winter 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- Living people
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American novelists
- American magazine editors
- American male non-fiction writers
- American male novelists
- New York University alumni
- People from Monroe, Connecticut
- Southern Connecticut State University alumni