Richard Rayner (born 1955) is a

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author who now lives in Los Angeles.

Early life

He was born on 15 December 1955 in the northern city of Bradford. Rayner attended schools in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

before studying philosophy and law at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. He has worked as an editor at '' Time Out'' Magazine, in London, and later on the literary magazine

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

, then based in Cambridge.

First book

Rayner is the author of nine books. His first, ''Los Angeles Without A Map'', was published in 1988. Part-fiction, part-travelogue, this was turned into a movie ''

L.A. Without a Map ''L.A. Without a Map'' (also known as ''Los Angeles Without a Map'' and ''I Love L.A''.) is a 1998 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mika Kaurismäki, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Richard Rayner, based on Rayner's 1988 semi-autobiog ...

'' (for which Rayner co-wrote the screenplay with director

Mika Kaurismäki Mika Juhani Kaurismäki (; born 21 September 1955) is a Finnish film director. Biography Mika Kaurismäki is the elder brother of Aki Kaurismäki, and the father of Maria Kaurismäki, who graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media in 200 ...

) starring

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

Vinessa Shaw Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born July 19, 1976) is an American film actress and model. She began her career as a child actor, and had her breakout role in Disney's 1993 Halloween comedy-fantasy film '' Hocus Pocus''. Shaw also appeared in '' Ladyb ...

, Julie Delpy,

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...

, and, in an uncredited part, Johnny Depp.

1996–present

In 1996, Rayner published ''The Blue Suit'', a memoir about his early life that won an Esquire Non-Fiction Award in the UK, and was described as 'a beguiling portrait of the artist as a writer and a crook' by the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. Novels like ''The Cloud Sketcher'' and ''Devil's Wind'' followed. ''Murder Book'', another novel, grew out of a time that Rayner spent riding with the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

. *
LAPC
, ''

Magazine'', January 22, 1995 *
Inside the LAPD, After the Riots
—

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

In 2009, Rayner published ''A Bright And Guilty Place'', a non-fiction historical narrative set in Los Angeles in the late 1920s and early 1930s, featuring various true-life tabloid crimes of the era. Rayner is a prolific journalist and short-story writer. He has published in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

, The

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

, Esquire,

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

and Granta Magazine among others. He wrote about the Los Angeles Riots for Granta Magazine, and about the post-Rodney-King Los Angeles Police Department for the New York Times Magazine. Further cover stories for the New York Times magazine include reporting on issues such as immigration, partner-swapping in Orange County, and women in the US military. His non-fiction work for the New Yorker has included a profile of Robert Redford, and a story about how a Finnish entomologist helped put leaves back on pest-ravaged Beijing trees in time for the 2008 Olympics. Rayner wrote and presented 'Back to Bradford', a documentary for UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

about returning to his home town. Rayner wrote a monthly column entitled ''Paperback Writers'' for the Los Angeles Times. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages. He is married to a Finn, Päivi Suvilehto, and the couple have two sons, Harry and Charlie. He has lived in Venice, California since 1992. Rayner is the writer and co-creator, with Don Handfield, and executive producer, of the historical drama ''

Knightfall "Knightfall" is a 1993–1994 Batman story arc published by DC Comics. It consists of a trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994, consisting of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd".On the comic book covers, only the third part ...

'', concerning the downfall and legend of the Knights Templar, which aired in the USA on the History channel, starting late 2017. The show stars Tom Cullen, Jim Carter, and Julian Ovenden, and was shot in Prague in 2016 and 2018. Rayner co-wrote 'The Rift', the first episode of the Steven Spielberg produced reboot of 'Amazing Stories' for Apple TV, aired in April 2020. Rayner has taught creative writing at King's College Cambridge and the University of Southern California. Currently he teaches in the Theater, Film and Television Department at UCLA.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Los Angeles Without A Map'' (1988 - adapted for film in 1998) * '' The Elephant'' (1991) * '' Murder Book'' (1998) * '' The Cloud Sketcher'' (2001) * '' The Devil's Wind'' (2005)

Short fiction

;Stories

Non-fiction

*
Los Angeles
in ''The Best Of Granta Reportage'',

Books, London (1993) * '' The Blue Suit'' (1995), Review:
Portrait Of The Artist As A Writer And A Crook
by Michuko Kakutani, ''New York Times'', October 27, 1995 *

, ''

Magazine'', January 22, 1995 *
Existential Cowboy
, ''

'', May 18, 1998 * '' Drake's Fortune'' (2002) about the con artist Oscar Hartzell * '' The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California'' (2008) features profiles of

Collis Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...

, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins and Leland Stanford *
Bug Wars
, ''

'', August 25, 2008 * '' A Bright And Guilty Place'' (2009) about the murderer of Los Angeles underworld figure

Charles H. Crawford Charles H. Crawford (April 22, 1879 – May 20, 1931) was an American political figure. In the 1920s, his loosely organized crime syndicate in Los Angeles, California, was known as the "City Hall Gang." Crawford was reportedly a model for some o ...

* Discusses issues with Stephen E. Ambrose's biography of Eisenhowe.
Everything you need to know about "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
—

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

*
Inside the LAPD, After the Riots
—

References

External links

Rayner's Official Website

A Bright And Guilty Place
Rayner's book Website
An interview with Richard Rayner
on ''Notebook on Cities and Culture''
Richard Rayner
in ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Richard 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Writers from Bradford British writers The New Yorker people