Jonathan Lethem was born on February 19, 1964. Born in New York City, Lethem trained to be an artist before moving to California and devoting his time to writing.
His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music was published in 1994. In 1999, Lethem published Motherless Brooklyn, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award, a Macallan Gold Dagger, and was translated into nearly thirty languages. In 2003, he published The Fortress of Solitude, which became a New York Times Bestseller, and earned him a MacArthur Fellowship.
Lethem is also a prolific essayist and short story writer. His latest novel is Chronic City.