Grant Ginder

Background and education

Ginder, born in 1983 and raised in Laguna Beach, California, received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Fine Arts from New York University. At the latter, Ginder studied with novelists Junot Diaz and Colson Whitehead.

Career

While in college, Ginder worked as intern in the offices of California representative Loretta Sanchez. Upon completing his education, Ginder served as speechwriter for John Podesta at the Center for American Progress. In 2009, he published his first novel, This is How it Starts, a story of young government employees and interns working in Washington, D.C. The Politico called the novel an examination of Washington's "power elite" -- "sharply observed" and "packed with sly humor."

In 2013, Ginder published the novel Driver's Education. In a starred review, the industry publication Booklist called the book, "lively, funny, gritty, and achingly real," comparing Ginder to novelists Junot Diaz and Michael Chabon. In The Boston Globe, critic Karen Campbell called the work "engaging, colorful, direct, and imaginative," and "a stirring, memorable trip." The New Yorker magazine called the work "a sensitively observed story," about "lessons that bear repeating."

In the summer of 2016, Ginder published his third novel, "The People We Hate at the Wedding."

Works