Douglas Kennedy (1) (1955–)

Author of The Big Picture

For other authors named Douglas Kennedy, see the disambiguation page.

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About the Author

Douglas Kennedy was born in New York City in 1955. He attended the Collegiate School at Trinity College in Dublin, and graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College in 1976. Kennedy worked briefly as a journalist in Maine and as a stage manager in New York. In 1978, he traveled to Ireland for a show more two-week visit and ended up staying there, living in Dublin for the next 11 years. It was at this time that Kennedy began to write in his spare time, and five years later, he turned his attention to writing full-time. Kennedy first supported himself as a playwright. His early radio plays, Shakespeare on Five Dollars a Day and The Don Giovanni Blues, were broadcast by the BBC. Kennedy's first book, Beyond the Pyramids, was published in London in 1988. In the next few years, Kennedy went on to write two more travelogues and the novel The Dead Heart, none of which were ever published in the United States. It wasn't until 1997 that one of Kennedy's books made an American debut. The book, The Big Picture, focuses on a suburban yuppie lawyer who throws his life away with one sudden act of violence. A selection of the Literary Guild and the Doubleday Book Club, film rights have been optioned by Fox 2000 and foreign rights have been sold in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Norway, and Spain. In addition to his books, Douglas Kennedy is a much-published journalist whose work regularly appears in such London publications as The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, British GQ, and Arena. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Image credit: Douglas Kennedy - Photo © I.Simon/Sipa

Works by Douglas Kennedy

Popular Recent

The Big Picture (1997) 831 copies, 23 reviews

The Pursuit of Happiness (2010) 783 copies, 9 reviews

State of the Union (2005) 552 copies, 9 reviews

A Special Relationship (2003) 518 copies, 9 reviews

The Woman in the Fifth (2007) 494 copies, 21 reviews

Leaving the World (2009) 446 copies, 23 reviews

The Job (1998) 427 copies, 11 reviews

The Dead Heart (1995) 347 copies, 13 reviews

The Moment (2011) 340 copies, 22 reviews

Temptation (2002) 323 copies, 10 reviews

Five Days (2013) 168 copies, 10 reviews

The Blue Hour (2015) 119 copies, 12 reviews

The Great Wide Open (2017) 91 copies, 4 reviews

Beyond the Pyramids (1988) 90 copies, 1 review

In God's Country: Travels in the Bible Belt, USA (1989) 80 copies

Isabelle in the Afternoon (2020) 47 copies, 2 reviews

Chasing Mammon: Travels in the Pursuit of Money (1992) 38 copies

Les hommes ont peur de la lumière (2021) 33 copies, 1 review

Murmurer à l'oreille des femmes (2014) 11 copies

Toutes ces grandes questions sans réponse (2016) 7 copies

The Mistake (2013) 7 copies

Les Fabuleuses aventures d'Aurore- tome 01 (01) (2019) 6 copies, 1 review

Des héros ordinaires (2015) 2 copies

The Douglas Kennedy Collection #2: Temptation, The Woman in the Fifth, and Leaving the World (2013) 1 copy

Douglas Kennedy Coffret 3 volumes : Rien ne va plus ; Les charmes discrets de la vie conjugale ; La femme du Ve (2008) 1 copy

Ton problème. Nouvelle 1 copy

Aurore et le mystère de la chambre secrète (2020) 1 copy

La Symphonie du hasard 2: Livre audio 1 CD MP3 (2018) 1 copy

The BIG PICTURE CASSETTE (1997) 1 copy

La symphonie du hasard Vol1, 2et 3 1 copy

Le charme discret de la vie conjugale 1 copy

Reader's Digest 4 in 1 The Big Picture etc. 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Reader's Digest Select Editions 1997 v06 #234 (1997) 25 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books: Remote Control • Heart of the Dreaming • The Big Picture • All God's Children (1998) 4 copies

Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher 234 - Das Bernstein-Amulett. Nacht-Blende. Zeit im Wind. Königsschießen (2012) — Author — 3 copies

Of Love and Life: Paradise House / A Special Relationship / The Children's Hour (2005) — Author — 1 copy

Kirjavaliot - Kovat panokset, Vaarallinen tehtävä, Kaupungin vihatuin mies 1 copy

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Kennedy, Douglas
Legal name: Kennedy, Douglas
Birthdate: 1955-01-01
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Manhattan, New York, USA
Places of residence: Manhattan, New York, USA
Dublin, Ireland
London, England, UK
Maine, USA
Education: Bowdoin College
The Collegiate School
Trinity College, Dublin
Occupations: novelist
travel writer
Awards and honors: Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2006)
Short biography: Douglas Kennedy (New York, 1955) was a successful thriller author before he moved to literature. His work has been translated into fifteen languages. In 2006 he received a high French literary award (Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). Kennedy lives in London with his wife and two children.