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About John Glassie

John Glassie is the author of A Man of Misconceptions, a non-fiction book published by Riverhead about a great and strange 17th-century polymath named Athanasius Kircher. A New York Times Book Review "Editors' Choice," it was called one of the best books of 2012 by Atlantic Wire and Scientific American. He is working on another book.

Glassie's written work has been published by The Believer, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Washington Post, Wired, and many other venues. In addition to writing articles about books, the arts, and ideas, he has interviewed dozens of public figures, from Anita Hill to Gene Simmons to Jhumpa Lahiri.

For many years, Glassie was a contributing editor for The New York Times Magazine, where among other things he published first-person stories from around the world and worked with authors such as Diane Ackerman, Daniel Alarcón, Nadeem Aslam, Sarah M. Broom, Ben Fountain, Sheila Heti, Gabe Hudson, Samantha Hunt, Randa Jarrar, Mat Johnson, Bret Anthony Johnston, Etgar Keret, Rachel Kushner, Laila Lalami, Yiyun Li, Dale Maharidge, Sarah Manguso, ZZ Packer, Karen Russell, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Robert Stone, Wells Tower, Abraham Verghese, Vendela Vida, Bryan Washington, Kevin Wilson, and John Wray.

John has taught writing at Pratt Institute and has given talks or participated on panels at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Columbia University, Loyola University in New Orleans, The New School, The CUNY Graduate Center, and The University of Iowa.

Glassie's street photographs became the basis of a 2005 book, Bicycles Locked to Poles, published by McSweeney's, and the subject of an exhibition at Jen Bekman Gallery in New York. At certain odd times he has also exhibited paintings, constructions, and video.

His writing and photographs have been included in several anthologies, including The Public Domain Review: Selected Essays, 2011-2013 (PDR Press, 2014), New York: A Photographer's City (Rizzoli, 2011), Art of McSweeney's (Chronicle Books, 2010), and Ancient Gonzo Wisdom: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson (DeCapo press, 2009).

In one previous incarnation, John was assistant director at a Washington art gallery; in another, he was director of corporate communications at NBC. He has also been a ghostwriter, speechwriter, and story editor and has worked as a consultant for media and cultural organizations. He grew up near Washington, D.C., and attended The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He lives in Brooklyn.

Interviews, Talks & Other Events

Deutchlandradio Kultur

February 17, 2015

Baltimore Book Festival

With the Ivy Bookshop
in the fabulous George Peabody Library
Sunday, September 29, 2013, 12:00 noon

C-SPAN Book TV

Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest
Chicago, June 8, 2013

Science on Screen: "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"

May 28, 2013
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Brooklyn, NY

Loyola University, New Orleans

Monday, April 22, 7 p.m.

Columbia University Seminar in the Renaissance