Larry Beinhart is an America novelist, columnist, and blogger. He is best known as the author of the political and detective novel '' American Hero'', which was adapted into the political-parody film ''

Wag the Dog ''Wag the Dog'' is a 1997 American black comedy political satire film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. Produced and directed by Barry Levinson, the film centers on a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer who fabricate a war in Al ...

''.

Biography

Beinhart has indicated that an early inspiration was the works of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

, who besides his writing skills and wit, "created dramas out of ideas". By this dictum, Beinhart seeks to "create situations in which ideas - about God, why we go to war, who gets the money, how politics work, what the media actually does, about science and morality - are challenged by circumstances". Beinhart spent two years at

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

in Oxford, England. He is the recipient of a Raymond Chandler

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

in Detective and Crime Fiction Writing. His ''No One Rides for Free'' (1986) received a 1987

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

. Beinhart has been a columnist for

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

since October 2016, at

Alternet AlterNet is a left-leaning news website based in the United States. It was launched by the Independent Media Institute. In 2018, the website was acquired by owners of '' Raw Story''. Coverage Coverage is divided into several special sections re ...

2005-2012, and had a blog at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' in 2011. His principal concerns are the US economy and politics, taxes, and the rising inequalities moving into the age of Trump. Beinhart joined the Al Jazeera TV series ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' as a behind-the-scenes consultant for the 2013 episode "Empire of Secrets" about the clandestine world of government secrets.

Film adaptions

'' (1997) was directed by

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Rain Man'' (1988). His other best-known works are ''Diner'' (1982), '' The Natural'' (1984 ...

; it starred

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She was the recipient of Daytime Emmy, National Board of Review, and GLAAD Media Awards ...

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Acade ...

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Born in Massachusetts, he first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song " Asshole") and th ...

Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the anthology film ''New York Stories'' (1989) and has since starred in several film and television productions. She has received several awar ...

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

, and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' called the novel "a tour de force of satirical fiction." His novel ''Salvation Boulevard,'' was adapted as a film and released in 2011. It features

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor and former talk show host. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, ...

Jennifer Connelly Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in the 1984 crime film ''Once Upon a Time in America''. After a few more years of modeling, she began t ...

Marisa Tomei Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She gained prominence for her comedic performance in '' My Cousin Vinny'' (1992), which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She received further nominations ...

, Isabelle Fuhrman,

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in '' Apollo 13'' (1995), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), '' Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Awa ...

, and

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

. The director is George Ratliff, the producers are Cathy Schulman and Celine Rattray.

Personal life

Beinhart resides in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

, with his wife and two children. He is a keen skier and sometime instructor at Hunter Mountain in New York State.

Selected works

Novels

* ''No One Rides For Free'' (1986)* * ''You Get What You Pay For'' (1988)* * ''Foreign Exchange'' (1992)* * '' American Hero'' (1993) (reissued as '' Wag the Dog: A Novel'') * ''The Librarian'' (2004) * ''Salvation Boulevard'' (2008) * ''The Tony Cassella Mysteries'' (omnibus) (2013)* * ''Zombie Pharm (2021)'' * ''The Deal Goes Down (2022)'' * Tony Cassella series

Non-fiction

* ''How to Write a Mystery'' (1996) * ''Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin'' (2005)

PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is a book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. The current Publisher is Clive Priddl ...

References

External links

* *
Larry Beinhart
at

Larry Beinhart's blog
at

Larry Beinhart: Federal Confidential
a
Buzzflash
*

By Michael Fleming, Variety, June 23, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beinhart, Larry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers American crime fiction writers Edgar Award winners 21st-century American novelists People from Woodstock, New York American male novelists 21st-century American male writers