Kurt Andersen Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Kurt Andersen is a noteworthy American author, host, and journalist. He is well known for hosting the radio program called Studio 360 and for writing & producing several part-time network TV pilots and programs for ABC, NBC, etc. Besides, Andersen also writes columns for New York Magazine and contributes regularly to Vanity Fair. As an author, Andersen is known for his books, Heyday, True Believers, Turn of the Century, and You Can’t Spell America Without Me, which he wrote in collaboration with Alec Baldwin. Among the nonfiction works of Andersen, there is Fantasyland, The Real Thing, and Reset. Previously, he was the co-founder of a satirical magazine called Spy and also served as its editor-in-chief for some time. Andersen has also worked as Time’s design & architecture critic and The New Yorker’s staff writer.

Andersen was born on August 22, 1954, in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. He completed his schooling from the Westside High School and later, joined Harvard College. During his time in college, Andersen was in-charge of editing the college paper Harvard Lampoon. Following his graduation magna cum laude, Andersen worked in the field of literature for some time before co-founding the Spy magazine with Graydon Carter in 1986. Carter and Andersen sold the magazine in 1991, but it continued to publish until 1998. When the two worked for Spy, they came up with Donal Trump’s notable insulting term ‘short-fingered vulgarian’. Throughout his life, Andersen remained associated with a number of literary magazines like The New Yorker, Time, New York, etc.

In 1996, Andersen was fired from New York’s editor-in-chief by Bill Reilly citing financial problems. However, Andersen claimed that his firing was the result of his refusal of killing a story that covered the fight between rival investment bankers Steven Rattner and Felix Rohatyn. In 1999, Andersen co-founded the bi-weekly magazine Inside that was later bought by Primedia. Between 2001 and 2004, Andersen was employed at Universal Television on the post of senior creative consultant. Later, he also worked for Colors magazine as an editorial director. The highlight of Andersen’s career came when co-created and hosted studio 360, a program covering culture and art. Andersen has been hosting the show since it started in 2000. Today, the show is broadcast on more than 240 stations in the US.

Andersen’s career as a novelist began in 1999 with the release of his first book, Turn of Century. It became a national bestseller and motivated Andersen to write more novels. The second book of Andersen’s writing career is called Heyday, which became a NY Times bestseller and also received the Langum Prize in 2007. In 2012, Andersen came up with his third book called True Believers, which earned recognition as one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to his fiction and nonfiction stints, Andersen has published a book consisting of humorous essays called The Real Thing. He has also co-authored a couple of other humor books. In 2017, Andersen published Fantasyland, a book that explains the peculiar susceptibility of American society to illusions and falsehoods. It became a bestseller and was labeled as America’s great revisionist history. Currently, Andersen resides in Brooklyn, New York, along with his lovely wife Anne Kreamer, who is also an author by profession. Andersen continues to host TV programs and finds time in between to write novels.

A wonderful book written by author Kurt Andersen is entitled ‘Heyday’. It was released by Random House in 2007. It features the main characters in the form of Benjamin Knowles, Timothy Skaggs, Duff Lucking, Polly Lucking, and a few others. The novel opens by showing that modern life begins to take root in the mid 19th century. People experience the marvels of telegraph, photography, and railroads. New businesses are set up, newspapers start covering the rising show business, Wall Street gets flooded with money, and everywhere there is scope for happiness and success. As the year 1848 begins, Americans hear another good news of their triumph over Mexico.

Simultaneously, gold gets discovered in California, bringing further prosperity to the land of dreams. Europe also gets swept with revolutions. In the middle of this tumult, Englishman Benjamin Knowles decides to undertake a transatlantic adventure and visit New York to reinvent himself. As he arrives in the big American city, he gets acquainted with three young Americans named Timothy Skaggs, Duff Lucking, and Polly Lucking. Timothy is a journalist, stargazer, and pleasure-seeker; Duff Lucking is a fireman and a Mexican War veteran; while Polly is the younger sister of Duff. She is a freethinking, strong-minded actress, and a part-time prostitute. Benjamin falls in love with her the moment he sees her for the first time. All these four characters set are beckoned by an era of new beginnings and set themselves on an interesting race to the west.

Another exciting book penned by Andersen is known as ‘True Believer’. It was published in 2012, again by Random House. This novel contains the central characters in the roles of Karen Hollander, Alex, Chuck, etc. Andersen has set the story in Chicago during the 1960s and the present time. The story starts by introducing Karen Hollander as a popular attorney based in Chicago. She has a good chance of getting appointed to the Supreme Court, but removes her name from the list of contenders at the last moment. Karen has her own reasons for this decision, which relate to an episode in 1968 that she has managed to keep to herself for over 40 years. But, as her memoir is about to get published, Karen is forced to let that secret out. Before doing that, she wishes to find answers to some crucial questions. When Karen was in junior high school, she used to roam in suburban Chicago with her friends Alex and Chuck on her bike. They used to take up spy missions for excitement and intrigue. During one of their supposed spy missions, they got involved in a dangerous game that Karen has not been able to forget even today. She tries to revisit her past and share her secret with the important people of her life first and then with the rest of the world. Andersen has described a thrilling political mystery in the form of a coming-of-age story that the readers liked and appreciated very much.