''For the American composer, see

Daniel Gregory Mason Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 – December 4, 1953) was an American composer and music critic. Biography Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry Ma ...

.'' Daniel Mason (born c. 1976) is an American novelist and physician. He is the author of '' The Piano Tuner,'' ''A Far Country'' and ''

North Woods North Woods or Northwoods may refer to: * Laurentian Mixed Forest Province, a forested ecoregion in the United States and Canada also known as the North Woods. * Operation Northwoods, a proposed operation against the Cuban government that originate ...

''.

Biography

He was raised in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, and received a BA in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, later graduating from the

UCSF School of Medicine The UCSF School of Medicine is a multisite medical school of the University of California, San Francisco, with a historical campus located at the base of Mount Sutro on the Parnassus Heights campus in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1864 b ...

. He wrote his first novel, '' The Piano Tuner'' (2002), while still a medical student. It was later the basis for a 2004 opera of the same name (composed by

Nigel Osborne Nigel Osborne (born 23 June 1948) is a British composer, teacher and aid worker. He served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh and has also taught at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. Known for his e ...

to a libretto by

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English media personality, actress and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent competition show '' Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the national ''H ...

). Mason's second novel, ''A Far Country'', was published in March 2007. ''

'' was published in 2023. His work has been published in 28 countries. He is married to the novelist

Sara Houghteling Sara Houghteling (born 1977) is an American novelist and educator. Biography She was born in 1977 and graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1999. She received her Master's in Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Michigan in ...

. In May 2020, Mason was the recipient of the Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize.Kosman, Joshia (May 12, 2020)
"Bay Area author and psychiatrist Daniel Mason wins $50,000 Joyce Carol Oates Prize"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

''. In 2024 he received a PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for ''North Woods''. Mason is a psychiatrist affiliated with

Stanford Hospital Stanford University Medical Center is a teaching hospital which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It serves as a private hospital for the Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2022–23, it was ranked by the U ...

, and teaches literature at Stanford University. North Woods was longlisted in 2025 for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

Books

*'' The Piano Tuner'' (2002) *''A Far Country'' (2007) *''Death of the Pugilist, or The Famous Battle of Jacob Burke & Blindman McGraw'' (2008) Picador Shots – 'Death of the Pugilist, or The Famous Battle of Jacob Burke & Blindman McGraw'
. Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 2020-05-26. *'' The Winter Soldier'' (2018) *''A Registry of My Passage upon the Earth'' (2020) *''

'' (2023)

References

External links

Interview
with Mason at identitytheory.com

of ''The Piano Tuner'' by

Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese Americ ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Harvard University alumni University of California, San Francisco alumni 21st-century American male writers 1970s births Living people Year of birth uncertain {{US-novelist-1970s-stub

Biography

Books

See also

References

External links