Rich Cohen (author)

Infobox writer


imagesize = 150px
name = Rich Cohen
pseudonym =
birthname = Rich Cohen
birthdate = birth date and age|1968|7|30
birthplace = Lake Forest, Illinois
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Non-fiction writer, journalist, screenplay writer
nationality = American
period = 1992-present
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notableworks = "Tough Jews" (1998)
"Sweet and Low" (2006)
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partner =
children =
relatives =
influences = Joseph Mitchell, A.J. Liebling, Ian Frazier
influenced =
awards =

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.

Background and education

Cohen was born in Lake Forest, Illinois, and grew up in Chicago's North Shore suburb of Glencoe. [Barnes and Noble, "Meet The Writer," http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Machers-and-Rockers/Rich-Cohen/e/9780393052800#TABS, retrieved 3-20-2008] 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. [Cohen, Rich, "King and I," Rolling Stone, 14 November, 1996.]

Career

Journalism

An admirer of the works of journalists A.J. Liebling, Ian Frazier and Joseph Mitchell, Cohen took a job as a messenger [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.] at the offices of The New Yorker magazine, where he published twelve Talk of the Town stories in eighteen months. [Cohen, Richard, "Lake Effect: A Memoir", New York: Knopf, 2001. p. 180.] 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.

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." [cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/04/12/reviews/980412.12patrict.html?_r=1&oref=login |title=This You Call A Stick-up? |first=Vincent |last=Patrick |publisher=The New York Times |date=1998-04-12 |accessdate=2008-03-20]

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 [cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/86093 |title=A Final Mission |first=Rich |last=Cohen |publisher=Newsweek |date=2000-09-11 |accessdate=2008-03-20] ; trade organ Publishers Weekly called the non-fiction work "a terrific narrative of courage and tenacity," [Publishers Weekly, "The Avengers: A Jewish War Story," 17 July, 2000] and The Washington Post called it "a tremendous story." [Goldsmith, Martin, "Fighters and Fugues," The Washington Post, 24 September, 2000]

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" [Newsweek Magazine, "Sweet and Low," 17 April, 2006] ; the Washington Post called it "superb," [Powers, Katherine, "Today's business world is cut-throat but often hilarious," 18 June, 2006.] and "a wildly addictive, high-octane narrative." [cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900956_pf.html |title=Sweet and Sour Dreams |first=John |last=Barlow |publisher=The Washington Post |date=2006-04-10 |accessdate=2008-03-20] . 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." [cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/books/04kaku.html
title=Problems That Come in Little Packets |first=Michiko |last=Kakutani |publisher=The New York Times |date=2006-04-04 |accessdate=2008-03-20]

creenplays

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. [Fleming, Michael and McClintock, Pamela, "Scorcese, Monahan ready to 'Play,'" Variety, 26 February, 2007.]

Works

Non-Fiction

* "Tough Jews" (1998)
* "The Avengers" (2000)
* "The Record Men" (2004)
* "Sweet and Low" (2006)

Memoir

* "Lake Effect" (2002)

External links

* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5418961 Rich Cohen on All Things Considered]
* [http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2006/05/15 Rich Cohen on NPR's The Leonard Lopate Show 2006]
* [http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2004/12/15 Rich Cohen on NPR's The Leonard Lopate Show 2005]
* [http://www.newsweek.com/id/86093 "The Avengers" Excerpt, Newsweek Magazine]
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/cohen/desktopnew.html Rich Cohen Author Page, Random House]
* [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Machers-and-Rockers/Rich-Cohen/e/9780393052800#TABS Rich Cohen Author Page, Barnes and Noble]

References