Nick McDonell
Encyclopedia
Robert Nicholas "Nick" McDonell (born February 18, 1984) is an American writer.
, is managing editor of Sports Illustrated
. His brother is actor Thomas McDonell
. His father was once managing editor of Rolling Stone
, where Hunter S. Thompson
was a contributing editor and a friend; Thompson gave a quote to McDonell when Twelve
was published, as did writers Richard Price
and Joan Didion
, both personal friends of the family. Morgan Entrekin
, president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic, which published the book, is also a friend of the family. McDonell attended the Buckley School, the Riverdale Country School
, and graduated from Harvard College
in January 2007.
in 2002, at age 17. The subject of the novel is disaffection, despair, drug use and violence among a group of wealthy Manhattan
teenagers during Winter break. The publication of the novel at such a young age was the subject of many articles in high-profile publications such The New Yorker
and Entertainment Weekly
.
Twelve has been translated into over twenty languages, was on all major American best-seller lists, UK bestseller lists and was number one on German bestseller lists. A motion picture adaptation of the same name
was released in 2010. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher
and starred Kiefer Sutherland
and Chace Crawford
.
called it "a haunting tale of brotherly love."
Divided into three parts the first describes the 19 year old protagonist Mike on a revelatory assignment in Bangkok
. Mike is working for an old friend of his father. (McDonell himself interned for Karl Taro Greenfeld
of Time Asia. Greenfeld later worked for McDonell's father at Sports Illustrated.)
The second part of the novel takes place on September 11, 2001, as Mike searches for his brother and the final part Mike returns to college after tragedy strikes his family.
and John le Carré
. Amazon.com recommended the novel and all three of McDonell's books were praised in a profile which appeared in The New York Times on August 2, 2009. The review in The Washington Post
on August 12, 2009 said: "Now 25, McDonell has reached an age at which it is not so freakish to write a good book which is fortunate because he has done it again." The review goes on to say, "As he's shown in his previous novels he can be a ruthless chronicler of America's aristocratic culture." And: "One of the fascinations of this novel is how effectively it tracks distant events that resonate with one another around the world."
in The New York Times Book Review
wrote, "In The Third Brother, McDonell delivers another remarkable novel." The first pre-publication review of McDonell’s third novel An Expensive Education, appeared in Publishers Weekly
where it was compared to "le Carré
's better works." McDonell has also proven himself with his book La Guerre a Harvard published in France in 2009, and articles from Darfur for Harper's Magazine
2009, and for Time
from Iraq.
Personal life
McDonell was born in Manhattan, New York. His mother, Joan, is a writer, and his father, Terry McDonellTerry McDonell
Robert Terry McDonell is the editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group. McDonell directs all editorial content and operations of the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, , GOLF Magazine and , as well as SI Kids, and international editions including SI China, SI South Africa, SI India and others.- Life...
, is managing editor of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
. His brother is actor Thomas McDonell
Thomas McDonell
Thomas McDonell is an American actor, musician, and artist. He appeared in The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li, and in Twelve, starring Chace Crawford. McDonell played the main role in 2011 teenage film Prom as Jesse Richter, alongside Aimee Teegarden...
. His father was once managing editor of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, where Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
was a contributing editor and a friend; Thompson gave a quote to McDonell when Twelve
Twelve (novel)
Twelve is a 2002 novel by Nick McDonell about drug addiction, violence and sex among mainly wealthy Manhattan teenagers. The title refers to a new designer drug which the protagonist of the novel, White Mike, sells...
was published, as did writers Richard Price
Richard Price (writer)
Richard Price is an American novelist and screenwriter, known for the books The Wanderers and Clockers.-Early life:...
and Joan Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
, both personal friends of the family. Morgan Entrekin
Morgan Entrekin
Morgan Entrekin is the president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic Inc. Books in New York City. He is one of six owners of the publishing company. He is from Nashville, Tennessee.-Timeline:...
, president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic, which published the book, is also a friend of the family. McDonell attended the Buckley School, the Riverdale Country School
Riverdale Country School
Riverdale Country School is a co-educational, independent, college-preparatory day school in New York City. One of the most competitive private schools in the nation, it is located on two campuses covering more than in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York.-History:Founded in 1907 by Dr...
, and graduated from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in January 2007.
Twelve
McDonell wrote the novel TwelveTwelve (novel)
Twelve is a 2002 novel by Nick McDonell about drug addiction, violence and sex among mainly wealthy Manhattan teenagers. The title refers to a new designer drug which the protagonist of the novel, White Mike, sells...
in 2002, at age 17. The subject of the novel is disaffection, despair, drug use and violence among a group of wealthy Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
teenagers during Winter break. The publication of the novel at such a young age was the subject of many articles in high-profile publications such The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
.
Twelve has been translated into over twenty languages, was on all major American best-seller lists, UK bestseller lists and was number one on German bestseller lists. A motion picture adaptation of the same name
Twelve (film)
Twelve is a 2010 crime film directed by Joel Schumacher. The film was written by Jordan Melamed, adapted from the novel of the same name by Nick McDonell. The film tells a story of drug addiction, violence, and sex among wealthy teenagers from Manhattan's Upper East Side...
was released in 2010. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...
and starred Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
and Chace Crawford
Chace Crawford
Christopher Chace Crawford , better known as Chace Crawford, is an American actor. He currently portrays Nate Archibald on the CW television drama Gossip Girl.-Early life:...
.
The Third Brother
Also published in the UK and translated into many languages, Nick McDonell's second novel, The Third Brother (ISBN 0-8021-1802-X), was released in September 2005. The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called it "a haunting tale of brotherly love."
Divided into three parts the first describes the 19 year old protagonist Mike on a revelatory assignment in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
. Mike is working for an old friend of his father. (McDonell himself interned for Karl Taro Greenfeld
Karl Taro Greenfeld
Karl Taro Greenfeld is a journalist and author known primarily for his articles on life in modern Asia and both his fiction and non-fiction in The Paris Review....
of Time Asia. Greenfeld later worked for McDonell's father at Sports Illustrated.)
The second part of the novel takes place on September 11, 2001, as Mike searches for his brother and the final part Mike returns to college after tragedy strikes his family.
An Expensive Education
With the publication in August 2009 of his third novel, An Expensive Education, reviewers compared McDonell to both Graham GreeneGraham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
and John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
. Amazon.com recommended the novel and all three of McDonell's books were praised in a profile which appeared in The New York Times on August 2, 2009. The review in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
on August 12, 2009 said: "Now 25, McDonell has reached an age at which it is not so freakish to write a good book which is fortunate because he has done it again." The review goes on to say, "As he's shown in his previous novels he can be a ruthless chronicler of America's aristocratic culture." And: "One of the fascinations of this novel is how effectively it tracks distant events that resonate with one another around the world."
Praise
Referring to his next book, Jennifer EganJennifer Egan
Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short story writer who lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Egan's novel A Visit From the Goon Squad won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction....
in The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
wrote, "In The Third Brother, McDonell delivers another remarkable novel." The first pre-publication review of McDonell’s third novel An Expensive Education, appeared in Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
where it was compared to "le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
's better works." McDonell has also proven himself with his book La Guerre a Harvard published in France in 2009, and articles from Darfur for Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
2009, and for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
from Iraq.