Rich Cohen (author)
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| Rich Cohen | |
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| Born | Rich Cohen July 30, 1968 Lake Forest, Illinois |
| Occupation | Non-fiction writer, journalist, screenplay writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Writing period | 1992-present |
| Notable work(s) | Tough Jews (1998) Sweet and Low (2006) |
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Influences
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Rich Cohen (born 30 July 1968) is an American non-fiction writer. He is a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone magazine. He lives in New York City.
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[edit] Background and education
Cohen was born in Lake Forest, Illinois, and grew up in Chicago's North Shore suburb of Glencoe.[1] He received his B.A. from Tulane University in 1990. His father, the negotiator Herb Cohen, grew up with the broadcaster Larry King; Cohen worked on King's CNN show for a short time after graduation.[2]
[edit] Career
[edit] Journalism
An admirer of the works of journalists A.J. Liebling, Ian Frazier and Joseph Mitchell, Cohen took a job as a messenger[3]at the offices of The New Yorker magazine, where he published twelve Talk of the Town stories in eighteen months.[4] After working as a reporter for The New York Observer, Cohen joined the staff of Rolling Stone Magazine in 1994. Since 2007, he has been a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine.
[edit] Books
Cohen published his first book Tough Jews—a non-fiction account of the Jewish gangsters of 1930s Brooklyn—in 1998. In The New York Times, writer Vincent Patrick called the book "marvelous," with "writing good enough to cause one, at times, to reread a page in order to savor the description."[5]
The author's second work, The Avengers: A Jewish War Story (2000), follows a group of anti-Nazi partisans in the forests of Lithuania at the close of World War Two. The book was excerpted in Newsweek Magazine[6]; trade organ Publishers Weekly called the non-fiction work "a terrific narrative of courage and tenacity,"[7] and The Washington Post called it "a tremendous story."[8]
The author's most recent book, 2006's "Sweet and Low," is a memoir about the creation of the artificial sweetener, a product invented by Benjamin Eisenstadt, the author's grandfather. Newsweek praised the book as "sad, true and hilarious"[9]; the Washington Post called it "superb,"[10]and "a wildly addictive, high-octane narrative."[11]. Writing in The New York Times, critic Michiko Kakutani called the book "a classic"—"a telling—and often hilarious—parable about the pursuit and costs of the American Dream."[12]
[edit] Screenplays
On February 26, 2007 Paramount Pictures announced it had closed a deal to produce The Long Play, a screenplay Cohen had written for Mick Jagger and director Martin Scorsese, with Scorcese directing.[13]
[edit] Works
[edit] Non-Fiction
- Tough Jews (1998)
- The Avengers (2000)
- The Record Men (2004)
- Sweet and Low (2006)
[edit] Memoir
- Lake Effect (2002)
[edit] External Links
- Rich Cohen on All Things Considered
- Rich Cohen on NPR's The Leonard Lopate Show 2006
- Rich Cohen on NPR's The Leonard Lopate Show 2005
- The Avengers Excerpt, Newsweek Magazine
- Rich Cohen Author Page, Random House
- Rich Cohen Author Page, Barnes and Noble
[edit] References
- ^ Barnes and Noble, "Meet The Writer," http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Machers-and-Rockers/Rich-Cohen/e/9780393052800#TABS, retrieved 3-20-2008
- ^ Cohen, Rich, "King and I," Rolling Stone, 14 November, 1996.
- ^ Ledbetter, C.S., "The Education of A Writer," http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/cohen/csledbetter.html Author's Desktop, Random House, retrieved 3-20-2008.
- ^ Cohen, Richard, Lake Effect: A Memoir, New York: Knopf, 2001. p. 180.
- ^ Patrick, Vincent. "This You Call A Stick-up?", The New York Times, 1998-04-12. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Cohen, Rich. "A Final Mission", Newsweek, 2000-09-11. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Publishers Weekly, "The Avengers: A Jewish War Story," 17 July, 2000
- ^ Goldsmith, Martin, "Fighters and Fugues," The Washington Post, 24 September, 2000
- ^ Newsweek Magazine, "Sweet and Low," 17 April, 2006
- ^ Powers, Katherine, "Today's business world is cut-throat but often hilarious," 18 June, 2006.
- ^ Barlow, John. "Sweet and Sour Dreams", The Washington Post, 2006-04-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Kakutani, Michiko. "Problems That Come in Little Packets", The New York Times, 2006-04-04. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Fleming, Michael and McClintock, Pamela, "Scorcese, Monahan ready to 'Play,'" Variety, 26 February, 2007.
