John Saul

Author profile

born

February 25, 1942

gender

male

website

http://www.johnsaul.com/

genre

Horror, Mystery & Thrillers

About this author

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John Saul was born in Pasadena, California on February 25, 1942, and grew up in Whittier where he graduated from Whittier High School in 1959. He attended several colleges—Antioch, in Ohio, Cerritos, in Norwalk, California, Montana State University and San Francisco State College, variously majoring in anthropology, liberal arts, and theater, but never obtaining a degree.
After leaving college, he decided the best thing for a college dropout to do was become a writer, and spent the next fifteen years working in various jobs while attempting to write a book someone would want to publish. Should anyone ever want to write a novel concerning the car-rental industry or the travails of temporary typists, John can provide excellent background mate...more John Saul was born in Pasadena, California on February 25, 1942, and grew up in Whittier where he graduated from Whittier High School in 1959. He attended several colleges—Antioch, in Ohio, Cerritos, in Norwalk, California, Montana State University and San Francisco State College, variously majoring in anthropology, liberal arts, and theater, but never obtaining a degree.
After leaving college, he decided the best thing for a college dropout to do was become a writer, and spent the next fifteen years working in various jobs while attempting to write a book someone would want to publish. Should anyone ever want to write a novel concerning the car-rental industry or the travails of temporary typists, John can provide excellent background material.

Those years garnered him a nice collection of unpublished manuscripts, but not a lot of money. Eventually he found an agent in New York, who spent several years sending his manuscripts around, and trying to make the rejection slips sound hopeful. Then, in 1976, one of his manuscripts reached Dell, who didn't want to buy it, but asked if he'd be interested in writing a psychological thriller. He put together an outline, and crossed his fingers.

At that point, things started getting bizarre. His agent decided the outline had all the makings of a best-seller, and so did Dell. Gambling on a first novel by an unknown author, they backed the book with television advertising (one of the first times a paperback original was promoted on television) and the gamble paid off. Within a month Suffer the Children appeared on all the best-seller lists in the country and made the #1 spot in Canada. Subsequently all 32 of his books, have made all the best-seller lists and have been published world wide. Though many of his books were published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell his last fourteen books have been published by Ballantine/Fawcett/Columbine.

In addition to his work as novelist, John is also interested in the theater. He has acted, and as a playwright has had several one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle, and two optioned in New York. One of his novels was produced by Gerber Productions Company and M.G.M. as a C.B.S. movie and currently one of his novels is in development.

John served on the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is actively involved with the development of other writers, and is a lecturer at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference and the Maui Writers Conference and received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Northwest Writers Conference. John is also a trustee and Vice President of The Chester Woodruff Foundation (New York), a philanthropic organization.

John lives part-time in the Pacific Northwest, both in Seattle and in the San Juan Islands. He also maintains a residence on the Big Island of Hawaii. He currently enjoys motor homing, travel and golf. He is an avid reader, bridge player, golfer and loves to cook. (less)

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John Saul's Books

Average rating: 3.80 · 92,506 ratings · 2,379 reviews · 68 distinct works · Similar authors

	Suffer the Children 3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 11,667 ratings — published 1977 — 16 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Darkness 3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 8,245 ratings — published 1991 — 17 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadows 3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 5,267 ratings — published 1992 — 29 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The God Project 3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 5,449 ratings — published 1982 — 26 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Creature 3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 4,514 ratings — published 1989 — 21 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Second Child 3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 3,157 ratings — published 1990 — 14 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Brain Child 3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 3,194 ratings — published 1985 — 18 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Comes the Blind Fury 3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 2,888 ratings — published 1980 — 23 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nathaniel 3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 2,923 ratings — published 1984 — 20 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Manhattan Hunt Club 3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 2,760 ratings — published 2001 — 25 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by John Saul…

Series by John Saul

Blackstone Chronicles (6 books)
by John Saul
4.080316945795066 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 5,553 ratings

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“The country would be far better if the population were half as interested in keeping their minds in as good condition as they tried to keep their bodies.”
― John Saul

28 people liked it

“If you open your house to strangers, who knows who might come in. And what they might be after. Or whom.”
― John Saul, Perfect Nightmare

5 people liked it

“Time is always relative.... For the terminally ill, six months are a lifetime, and not a very long one. To a three-year-old waiting for Christmas, it's an eternity so distant it's not even worth thinking about.”
― John Saul

3 people liked it

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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John Saul: House of Reckoning	14	29	Jan 17, 2010 03:07pm
What's The Name o...: ~SOLVED~ 1990's (or earlier) teen girl tortured by evil popular half-sister who comes to live with her family after her own family dies in a fire [s]	13	110	Oct 06, 2010 12:15pm
Stephen King Fans: John Saul	48	156	Nov 07, 2010 10:12pm

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John Saul

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