Jonathan Littell

Jonathan Littell
Jonathan Littell in 2007
Born	(1967-10-10) October 10, 1967 (age 49) New York City, New York, United States
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American French
Notable works	The Kindly Ones (Les Bienveillantes)
Notable awards	Prix Goncourt 2006 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française 2006
Relatives	Robert Littell (father)

Jonathan Littell (born 10 October 1967) is a writer living in Barcelona. He grew up in France and the United States and is a citizen of both countries. After acquiring his bachelor's degree he worked for a humanitarian organisation for nine years, leaving his job in 2001 in order to concentrate on writing. His first novel written in French, The Kindly Ones (2006; Les Bienveillantes), won two major French awards, including the Prix Goncourt and the Prix de l'Académie française.

Littell is the son of author Robert Littell. Although his grandparents were Jews who emigrated from Russia to the United States at the end of the 19th century, Littell does not define himself as a Jew "at all," and is quoted as saying, "for me Judaism is more [of] a historical background."

Born in New York City, Littell arrived in France at age three, then completed part of his education in his native country from age 13 to 16, before returning to France to achieve his baccalauréat. He returned again to the United States where he attended Yale University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1989. During his years in Yale, he finished his first book, Bad Voltage, and later on met William S. Burroughs, who left a lasting impression on him. Due to his influence, he started to read Burroughs, as well as Sade, Blanchot, Genet, Céline, Bataille and Beckett. Afterwards, he worked as a translator, rendering French works by Sade, Blanchot, Genet and Quignard into English. At the same time, he started to write a ten-volume book, but gave up the project after the third volume.