Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. Born on February 19, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York, Lethem is known for his genre-blending works that often combine elements of science fiction and detective fiction. His debut novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, was published in 1994, followed by Motherless Brooklyn in 1999, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2003, Lethem achieved further success with The Fortress of Solitude, a New York Times Best Seller. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2005 and has been teaching creative writing at Pomona College since 2011. Lethem's father was an avant-garde painter, and his mother was a political activist of Jewish descent.