Jonathan Ames (; born March 23, 1964) is an American author who has written a number of novels and comic memoirs, and is the creator of two television series, '' Bored to Death'' ( HBO) and ''

Blunt Talk ''Blunt Talk'' is an American sitcom on the Starz cable network starring Patrick Stewart, created by Jonathan Ames, and executive produced by Seth MacFarlane. The series' first two episodes were released online on August 15, 2015, and premiered on ...

'' ( STARZ). In the late '90s and early 2000s, he was a columnist for the '' New York Press'' for several years, and became known for self-deprecating tales of his sexual misadventures. He also has a long-time interest in boxing, appearing occasionally in the ring as "The Herring Wonder". Two of his novels have been adapted into films: '' The Extra Man'' in 2010, and ''

You Were Never Really Here ''You Were Never Really Here'' (released as ''A Beautiful Day'' in France and Germany) is a 2017 neo-noir crime psychological thriller film written and directed by Lynne Ramsay. Based on the 2013 novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, it st ...

'' in 2017. Ames was a co-screenwriter of the former and an executive producer of the latter.

Early life

Raised in Oakland, New Jersey, Ames attended Indian Hills High School. Ames graduated with an English degree in 1987 from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, and where he authored his senior thesis entitled ''Eye Pity Eye: (The Collected Writings of Alexander Vine)''. He also holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction from Columbia University. He has been an infrequent faculty member at Columbia, The New School, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Print

Ames's novels include ''I Pass Like Night'' (1989), ''The Extra Man'' (1998), and 2004's ''Wake Up Sir!'', described by ''

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 d ...

'' as "laugh-out-loud funny". In September 2008, Ames released ''The Alcoholic'', his first foray into graphic literature, illustrated by

Dean Haspiel Dean Edmund Haspiel (born May 31, 1967 in New York City) is an American comic book artist, writer, and playwright. He is known for creating Billy Dogma, The Red Hook, and for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his '' American Splendor ...

; an excerpt was included in ''The Best American Comics 2010''.Neil Gaiman, ed., The Best American Comics 2010 (Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), 317 In 2009, he published a new collection of essays and fiction with Scribner, titled ''The Double Life Is Twice as Good.'' In 2018, Vintage released an expanded version of Ames's first thriller novel, ''You Were Never Really Here'', which was originally published at Byliner as an e-book in 2013. While at the '' New York Press'', his columns were often recollections of his childhood neuroses and his unusual experiences, written in the gritty tradition of

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...

. These columns were collected in four nonfiction books, ''What's Not to Love?: The Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writer'' (2000), ''My Less Than Secret Life'' (2002), ''I Love You More than You Know'' (2006), and ''The Double Life Is Twice As Good: Essays and Fiction'' (2009). Ames was also responsible for the

Most Phallic Building contest Phallic architecture consciously or unconsciously creates a symbolic representation of the human penis. Buildings intentionally or unintentionally resembling the human penis are a source of amusement to locals and tourists in various places around ...

which followed an article he wrote for '' Slate'' magazine where he claimed that the Williamsburg Bank Building in Brooklyn, New York, was the most phallic building he'd ever seen.Ames, Jonathan
"Entry 4"
'' Slate'' (July 17, 2003)

Other media

Ames became known as a

raconteur A humorist (American) or humourist ( British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business ...

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 ...

following his 1999 one-man stage show, " Oedipussy," and continues to perform frequently with the New York-based storytelling organization

The Moth The Moth is a non-profit group based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Founded in 1997, the organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad, often featuring ...

. He has also been a guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' several times and played the lead role in the 2001 IFC film ''The Girl Under the Waves'', an on-screen experiment in improvisational acting. In 2004, Showtime commissioned Ames to develop a pilot based on his writings, titled ''What's Not to Love?'' Ames starred as himself, but it was not developed into a series, instead airing as a one time special in the winter of 2007-2008. Ames also appears in '' The Great Buck Howard'', directed by

Sean McGinly Sean McGinly is an American film director and screenwriter. His film ''Two Days'', starring Paul Rudd and Donal Logue, piqued the interest of Tom Hanks, who then agreed to produce McGinly's latest project, '' The Great Buck Howard'', through his ...

and starring

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

, which debuted at Sundance in 2008. Ames created the HBO series '' Bored to Death'', which stars Jason Schwartzman as a struggling Brooklyn novelist named Jonathan Ames who moonlights as an unlicensed private detective. The show debuted on September 20, 2009. He also started to guest-star as Irwin during the second season, appearing fully nude in one scene. On December 20, 2011 it was reported that ''Bored to Death'' was cancelled by HBO after airing its third season. The film adaptation of Ames's novel '' The Extra Man'', starring Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, Katie Holmes, and Paul Dano, was released in 2010. The film adaptation of ''

'' was theatrically released in April 2018. The author produced the movie based on his book, which was directed by

Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay (born 5 December 1969) is a Scottish film director, writer, producer, and cinematographer best known for the feature films '' Ratcatcher'' (1999), ''Morvern Callar'' (2002), '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011), and '' You Were N ...

. It premiered at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, where Ramsay won the award for Best Screenplay and Joaquin Phoenix won the award for Best Actor. Ames has also appeared in HBO's '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'' in the Season 8 episode "Car Periscope," playing a brief role as Larry David's business manager. In 2015, Ames teamed up with

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors ...

and Seth MacFarlane to create ''

,'' which aired on the STARZ network for two seasons. For his performance in the starring role, Patrick Stewart was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy and a Critics' Choice TV Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

Bibliography

Novels

*''I Pass Like Night'' (1989) *''The Extra Man'' (1998) *''Wake Up, Sir!'' (2004) *''You Were Never Really Here'' (2013 and expanded version in 2018) *''A Man Named Doll'' (2021) * The Wheel of Doll (2022)

Essays

*''What's Not to Love?: The Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writer'' (2000) *''My Less Than Secret Life'' (2002) *''I Love You More Than You Know'' (2006) *''The Double Life Is Twice As Good: Essays and Fiction'' (2009)

Anthologies

*''Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs'' (2005)

Comics

*''The Alcoholic'', with

(2008)

Television

*'' Bored to Death'' (creator/writer/producer, 2009–2011, as well as a cameo appearance as "Irwin") *''

'' (creator/writer/executive producer, 2015–2016) *'' Drunk History'' (as Junius Booth, 2013)

References

External links

*
Profile
in the Village Voice (September 23, 2008)
"For a Grown-Up, a Few Growing Pains"The Interrogation of Jonathan Ames, by Mistress YinExclusive interview: The Scope Weekly speaks with Jonathan Ames, book author and film producer, and co-star Judith Roberts
] (April 20, 2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Jonathan 1964 births Living people American comics writers American memoirists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Columbia University faculty The New School faculty New York Press people People from Oakland, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male essayists 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Iowa