Elizabeth Benedict, author

Elizabeth Benedict
biography

Elizabeth Benedict's five critically acclaimed novels have established her reputation as a writer who "specializes in the subterranean currents of modern relationships, the secret motivations and betrayals that underlie everyday interactions." Hallie Ephron in the Boston Globe called her most recent novel, The Practice of Deceit "a wickedly funny literary suspense novel" that is "wry, at times heartbreaking, always smart and entertaining." Newsday's reviewer said that Benedict's "wit is as sharp as her eye, and twice as fast. She writes the hard, horrifying truth about human nature, and it is addictively entertaining." Fresh Air's Maureen Corrigan chose her previous novel, the bestseller Almost, as one of her top five novels of 2001.

Her first novel, Slow Dancing, published in 1985, was shortlisted for the National Book Award. She is also the author of several other novels and of a classic book, The Joy of Writing Sex , which is used widely in writing programs. She's taught fiction and non-fiction writing at Princeton, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Swarthmore College, and the Harvard Extension and has written for many publications, including The New York Times, Salmagundi, Esquire, Tin House, Harper's Bazaar, and The American Prospect.

Photo by Emma Dodge Hanson