Stephanie Danler (born 1983) is an American author. Her debut novel, ''

Sweetbitter ''Sweetbitter'' is a 2016 novel by American author Stephanie Danler, published by Alfred A. Knopf. It is Danler's first published book. It was written by the author over a seven-year period, and, despite glowing press before its release, received ...

'' (2016), was a ''New York Times'' bestseller and was adapted into a television show by the same name. She released a memoir, ''Stray'', in 2020.

Life

Danler grew up in

Seal Beach Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census. Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest ...

, California. At age 16, she moved to Boulder, Colorado to live with her father. She attended

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

in Ohio. After moving to New York in 2006, Danler worked at

Union Square Cafe Union Square Cafe is an American restaurant featuring New American cuisine with Italian influences, located at 101 E 19th St (between Park Avenue South and Irving Place), in the Union Square neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York Cit ...

for a year and earned an MFA in creative writing at

the New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

. She was working at Buvette, a restaurant in the West Village when she earned her first book deal''.'' In her early 30s, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. As of May 2020, she was living in

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

with her husband and son, and was expecting her second child. Danler moved her family to Barcelona to work on ''Stray'' for a brief time, before returning to Los Angeles.

Writing career

In 2014, Danler secured a six-figure, two-book publication deal with

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

. She had sent her manuscript for ''Sweetbitter'' to an editor at

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

a regular customer at Buvette who mentioned it to a colleague, who then acquired the book for Knopf. ''Sweetbitter'', a novel based on her experiences of working at Union Square Cafe, was published in 2016. It earned a starred review in ''

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' and was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. A review 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 ...

'' said that "Danler deftly captures the unique power of hierarchy in the restaurant world, the role of drug and alcohol abuse, and the sense of borrowed grandeur that pervades the serving scene." A television adaptation (''

)'', created by Danler, Stuart Zicherman, and

Plan B Entertainment Plan B Entertainment, Inc., more commonly known as Plan B, is an American production company founded in November in 2001 by Brad Grey, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Kristin Hahn. In 2005, after Pitt and Aniston divorced, Grey became the CEO of ...

, premiered on

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

in 2018 and aired for two seasons. In 2020, she published a memoir'', Stray'', about "familial dysfunction and

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

" and "the entanglement of love and disappointment." ''Kirkus'' called it a "mostly moving text in which writing is therapeutic and family trauma is useful material." A review in ''The New York Times'' described it as "carefully concocted but unfermented." Marion Winik, writing for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', gave ''Stray'' a mixed review with the comment:

Works

* ''

'' (2016) * ''Stray: A Memoir'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danler, Stephanie 1983 births Living people Kenyon College alumni The New School alumni Writers from Manhattan 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American memoirists American women memoirists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists