Author Bio
• Birth—April 10, 1962
• Where—New York, New York, USA
• Education— B.A., M.F.A., Sarah Lawrence College
• Currently—lives in Bethlehem, Connecticut
Dani Shapiro is the author of the memoirs Inheritance (2019) Hourglass (2017), Still Writing (2013), Devotion (2010), and Slow Motion (1998). She has also the author of several novels, including Black & White (2007) and Family History (2004).
Shapiro's short fiction, essays, and journalistic pieces have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, One Story, Elle, Vogue, Oprah Magazine, New York Times Book Review, the op-ed pages of the New York Times, and many other publications.
She has taught in the writing programs at Columbia, NYU, the New School, and Wesleyan University; she is cofounder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. In 1997 she married screenwriter Michael Maren. They have one child and live in Litchfield County (Bethlehem), Connecticut. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
(Starred Review) Fascinating…. With thoughtful candor, [Shapiro] explores the ethical questions surrounding sperm donation, the consequences of DNA testing…. This beautifully written, thought-provoking genealogical mystery will captivate readers from the very first pages.
Publishers Weekly
Shapiro surprises us again with her latest meditation. [Through DNA, she] discovered that her father was not her biological father. What results is an exploration of family secrets, a painful rebuilding of her sense of self, and an understanding of how we manage whatever life tosses our way.
Library Journal
(Starred Review) Page after page, Shapiro displays a disarming honesty and an acute desire to know the unknowable.
Booklist
(Starred Review) [A]n origin story that puts everything [Shapiro] previously believed and wrote about herself in fresh perspective.… For all the trauma…, Shapiro recognizes that what she had experienced was "a great story"—one that has inspired her best book.
Kirkus Reviews