MICAH NATHAN  

Novelist | Essayist | MIT Lecturer

BIO



Photography by Massimo  

Micah Nathan is a novelist, essayist, and MIT lecturer in fiction and nonfiction writing. He is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Gods of Aberdeen (Simon & Schuster), published internationally and translated into five languages, and Losing Graceland (Random House). His fiction and essays have appeared in Vanity Fair, The Paris Review, Little White Lies, Kinfolk, Glimmer Train, and elsewhere. His honors include Boston University’s Saul Bellow Prize for Fiction, the Associated Press Short Essay Award, and selection in Best American Mystery Stories.




NOVELS





Simon & Schuster, 2003
Editions published in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Russia.
Synopsis: A haunting novel about a brilliant young man who enrolls at a New England college and becomes entangled in a mysterious death -- and a quest for immortality.
Genre: Dark Academia, Mystery 






“Soaked with gothic mood and spiked with sharp dialogue, it’s Dead Poets Society via Stephen King.”- The Hollywood Reporter

“A malevolently thrilling coming-of-ager wrapped in a philosophical detective tale.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Think Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, with a little magic thrown in.”- Publishers Weekly

“A perfectly proportioned gothic mystery.”- Elle

“One of the year’s best debuts.”- GQ

“Nathan’s eye for detail can be subtly spectacular, his humor eloquently wicked. - Spirit Magazine





Crown, 2011
Synopsis: An irreverent tale about a recent college grad, a mysterious old man who may be Elvis, and a perilous road trip that could lead to the old man’s final comeback.
Genre: Coming of Age, Road Trip 


“A wild road trip, a yarn spiced with plenty of humor and romance.”-  The Washington Post

“Readers will pore through this fast-paced, adrenaline-filled novel and eat up the fantastic dialogue...”- Booklist


“Less about the hip-swiveling sex icon and more about friendship...and life’s journey through bumps in the road.”- Marie Claire

“The weirdest of buddy adventures.” - The Boston Globe

“A highly entertaining, rambunctiously readable second novel.”- The Buffalo News


COMPILATIONS & ANTHOLOGIES





Simon & Schuster, 2019
Selected story: “Get Him”
Genre: Mystery, Crime




Mariner Books, 2013
Selected story: “Quarry”
Genre: Mystery, Crime 


SHORT FICTION


In Search of Absolutely Nothing (Glimmer Train)

Quarry (Glimmer Train)

One Act (Gettysburg Review)

The Love Life of Tigers (Bellingham Review)

Simulacrum (Diagram)

As the Old Greeks Would Say (236 Magazine)



ESSAYS & CRITICISM


Vanity Fair


Remembering River Phoenix, 23 Years After His Death
 

Pretty in Pink Turns 30, and James Spader Remains the Only Reason to Watch It
 

Celebrating the Brilliance of Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber


Why Southern Comfort Food Is on the Rise in Paris

Jimmy’s HideAway Is a Food Lover’s Paradise Amid the Drag-Queen Parades of  Provincetown


A Female-Fronted Japanese Metal Band Just Took Over Colbert

A Warhol Portrait You Won’t See on Dorm Walls


A Nice Bowl of Weed


The Paris Review


Tuesday’s Child

Cheddar, Cheever, and the Burbs


The Moon Museum 

Kinfolk


On Yves Klein Blue

On Procrastination 

On Lame Advertising

Other Essays


Snapshots in the Context of Forever (Site Magazine)

All in the Family (as Henry Cohen) (Commonweal) * Winner, Associated Press Short Essay Award

A Dead Fox and Other Revelations (Free Inquiry)

Kovalev vs. Chilemba: Let’s Get This Over With
(Vice)
Inside the Heart of Amateur Boxing
(Vice)

On Big Trouble in Little China  (HiLoBrow)

On Patrick Bateman (HiLoBrow)


AWARDS


Saul Bellow Prize in Fiction
Best American Mystery Stories (Selection)
Associated Press Award for Best Essay
Tobias Wolff Award for Short Fiction (Finalist)
Innovative Fiction Award
D&AD Wood Pencil