David Owen

David Owen, author of Green Metropolis and The Conundrum.

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Biography

DLO newDavid Owen has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1991. Before joining The New Yorker, he was a contributing editor at The Atlantic Monthly and, prior to that, a senior writer at Harper’s. He is also a contributing editor at Golf Digest and one of The Fifty Funniest American Writers. He is the author of more than a dozen books: High School, about four months he spent pretending to be a high-school student; None of the Above, an exposé of the standardized-testing industry; The Man Who Invented Saturday Morning, a collection of his pieces from Harper’s and The Atlantic Monthly; The Walls Around Us: A Thinking Person’s Guide to How a House Works; Around the House, a collection of essays about domestic life; The First National Bank of Dad: The Best Way to Teach Kids About Money; Copies in Seconds, about the invention of the Xerox machine; and Sheetrock & Shellac, a sequel to The Walls Around Us. In addition, he has written four books about golf—My Usual Game, The Making of the Masters, The Chosen One: Tiger Woods and the Dilemma of Greatness, and Hit & Hope—and he co-edited a collection of golf stories entitled Lure of the Links. His recent book Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability grew from a widely discussed 2004 New Yorker essay called “Green Manhattan.” His latest book is The Conundrum: How Scientific Innovation, Increased Efficiency, and Good Intentions Can make Our Energy and Climate Problems Worse.  He lives in Washington, Connecticut, with his wife, the writer Ann Hodgman. They have two grown children, both of whom are also writers: Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) and John Bailey Owen (@johnbaileyowen).

Go here for an online interview containing a fair amount of biographical information.

Go here for David Owen's golf-only website.

2009 Jorge Columbo NYer library

Books

  • : The Conundrum: How Scientific Innovation, Increased Efficiency, and Good Intentions Can Make Our Energy and Climate Problems Worse

    The Conundrum: How Scientific Innovation, Increased Efficiency, and Good Intentions Can Make Our Energy and Climate Problems Worse
    Riverhead 2012

  • : Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability

    Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability
    Riverhead 2010

  • : The Walls Around Us: The Thinking Person's Guide to How a House Works

    The Walls Around Us: The Thinking Person's Guide to How a House Works
    Vintage 1992

  • : My Usual Game: Adventures in Golf

    My Usual Game: Adventures in Golf
    Doubleday 1995

  • : Around the House: Reflections on Life Under a Roof

    Around the House: Reflections on Life Under a Roof
    Villard 1998

  • : The Making of the Masters: Clifford Roberts, Augusta National, and Golf's Most Prestigious Tournament

    The Making of the Masters: Clifford Roberts, Augusta National, and Golf's Most Prestigious Tournament
    Simon & Schuster 1999

  • : The Chosen One: Tiger Woods and the Dilemma of Greatness

    The Chosen One: Tiger Woods and the Dilemma of Greatness
    Simon & Schuster 2001

  • : Hit & Hope: How the Rest of Us Play Golf

    Hit & Hope: How the Rest of Us Play Golf
    Simon & Schuster 2003

  • : The First National Bank of Dad: A Foolproof Method for Teaching Your Kids the Value of Money

    The First National Bank of Dad: A Foolproof Method for Teaching Your Kids the Value of Money
    Simon & Schuster 2003

  • : Copies in Seconds: How a Lone Inventor and an Unknown Company Created the Biggest Communication Breakthrough Since Gutenberg--Chester Carlson and the Birth of Xerox

    Copies in Seconds: How a Lone Inventor and an Unknown Company Created the Biggest Communication Breakthrough Since Gutenberg--Chester Carlson and the Birth of Xerox
    Simon & Schuster, 2004

  • : Sheetrock & Shellac: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Art and Science of Home Improvement

    Sheetrock & Shellac: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Art and Science of Home Improvement
    Simon & Schuster 2006