John Searles is an American writer and book critic. He is the author of four novels: Her Last Affair (ISBN-10: 0060779659 ), ''Help For The Haunted'' (), ''Strange But True'' () and ''Boy Still Missing'' (). His essays have appeared in national magazines and newspapers, and he contributes frequently to morning television shows as a book critic. He is based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Life

Born and raised in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, Searles is the son of a truck driver and stay-at-home mother. After high school, Searles worked at the DuPont factory close to his hometown He went on to pursue an

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...

from

Southern Connecticut State University Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply Southern) is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is ...

, becoming the first member of his family to attend college, before entering a graduate program at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

where he won a number of fiction awards and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing.

Career

After completing his master's degree, Searles took a job at '' Redbook'' magazine reading fiction submissions. He soon moved on to a part-time job in the books department at ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', where he went on to hold many positions including Books Editor, Executive Editor, Editorial Brand Director and Editor-at-Large. Upon the 2001 publication of Searles’ first novel, ''Boy Still Missing'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' named him a “Person to Watch” His second novel, ''Strange But True'', was named the best novel of 2004 by

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

. Searles’ novel ''Help for the Haunted'', published by William Morrow/

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

and was hailed by author

Gillian Flynn Gillian Schieber Flynn (; born February 24, 1971) is an American author, screenwriter, and producer. She is known for writing the thriller and mystery novels, ''Sharp Objects'' (2006), '' Dark Places'' (2009), and '' Gone Girl'' (2012), which are ...

as “dazzling… a novel both frightening and beautiful." His essays have appeared in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and other national magazines and newspapers. He has featured frequently as a book critic on morning television shows including NBC's ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

'', CBS’s ''

The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from ...

'', ''

Live! With Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'', and

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

to discuss his favorite book selections. In 2019, a film adaptation of ''Strange But True'' was released by Lionsgate and

CBS Films CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019. CBS Films originally was planned to distribute, develop and prod ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Searles, John Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists American magazine editors American male non-fiction writers American male novelists New York University alumni People from Monroe, Connecticut Southern Connecticut State University alumni