Louis Begley (born October 6, 1933) is a Jewish American novelist. He is best known for writing the semi-autobiographical Holocaust novel, Wartime Lies (1991), and the Schmidt trilogy: About Schmidt (1996), Schmidt Delivered (2000) and Schmidt Steps Back (2012).
Franklin Library Louis Begley books
The Man Who Was Late - signed first edition - 1992
(This page contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated.)
Louis Begley biography
Begley was born Ludwik Begleiter in Stryi at the time part of Poland and now in Ukraine, as the only child of a physician. He is a survivor of the Holocaust due to the multiple purchases of Aryan papers by his mother and constant evasion of the Nazis. They survived by pretending to be Polish Catholic. The family left Poland in the fall of 1946 and settled in New York in March 1947. Begley studied English Literature at Harvard College (AB '54, summa cum laude), and published in the Harvard Advocate. Service in the United States Army followed. In 1956 Begley entered Harvard Law School and graduated in 1959 (LL.B. magna cum laude).
Upon graduation from Law School, Begley joined the New York firm of Debevoise & Plimpton as an associate; became a partner in January 1968; became of counsel in January 2004; and retired in January 2007. From 1993 to 1995, Begley was also president of PEN American Center. He remains a member of PEN's board of directors, as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
His first novel, Wartime Lies, was written in 1989. It won the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first work of fiction in 1991. The French version, Une education polonaise, won the Prix Médicis International in 1992. He has also won several German literature prizes, including the Jeanette Schocken Prize in 1995 and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Literature Prize in 2000.
His novel About Schmidt was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jack Nicholson.
Louis Begley books in order
Wartime Lies (1991)
The Man Who Was Late (1993)
As Max Saw It (1994)
About Schmidt (1996), basis for the 2002 film of the same name
Mistler's Exit (1998)
Schmidt Delivered (2000)
Shipwreck (2003)
Matters of Honor (2007)
Schmidt Steps Back (2012)
Memories of a Marriage (2013)
Killer, Come Hither (2015)
Kill and Be Killed (2016)
Killer's Choice (2019)
New Life of Hugo Gardner (2020)
Louis Begley quotes
"I have no interest in writing confessions, in deliberately baring myself to my readers. I prefer to remain behind a screen."
"I think I am less self-assured when I write English than I would be if I were writing in my first language."
"I think that Jews - because they are a distinct, gifted and successful group that differentiates itself from societies in which it lives - are vulnerable wherever the rule of law is not paramount."
"In legal practice, in the representation of clients, I have always felt deeply engaged, serene, and not all inclined to stand aside. I have always done whatever needed to be done, and have usually gotten my way."
"I may well do some more polemical writing, if a subject that fires me up comes along. Apart from that possibility, I would like to continue to tell stories so long as I have stories to tell."
Source and additional information: Louis Begley