Donna Tartt

Author profile

born

in Greenwood, Mississippi, The United States

December 23, 1963

gender

female

genre

Literature & Fiction, Short Stories

About this author

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Donna Tartt (born 23 December 1963) is an American writer who received critical acclaim for her two novels, The Secret History (1992) and The Little Friend (2002). Tartt was the 2003 winner of the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend.

The daughter of Don and Taylor Tartt, she was born in Greenwood, Mississippi but raised 32 miles away in Grenada, Mississippi. At age five, she wrote her first poem, and she first saw publication in a Mississippi literary review when she was 13 years old.

Enrolling in the University of Mississippi in 1981, she pledged to the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma. Her writing caught the attention of Willie Morris while she was a freshman. Following a recommendation from Morris, Barry Hannah, then an Ole Miss Writer...more

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Donna Tartt's Books

Average rating: 3.91 · 67,251 ratings · 5,313 reviews · 12 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Secret History 4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 54,331 ratings — published 1992 — 69 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 Little Friend 3.33 of 5 stars 3.33 avg rating — 11,768 ratings — published 2002 — 43 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 Secret History & The Little Friend 4.32 of 5 stars 4.32 avg rating — 41 ratings	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
	A Christmas Pageant 4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 1993	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
	Het Land van de Papaver 2.4 of 5 stars 2.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2004	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 Goldfinch 5.0 of 5 stars 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — expected publication 2013 — 7 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
	Eine Strumpfbandnatter by Donna Tartt, Paul Herwig (Narrator), Rainer Schmidt (Translator) 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	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
	نقشه‌هایت را بسوزان by Robyn Joy Leff, Jess Row, George Saunders 3.24 of 5 stars 3.24 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 1388	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
	Fairy Tale Review: The Green Issue by Kate Bernheimer (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Brian Baldi (Contributor), Jeanne Marie Beaumont (Contributor) 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2007	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
	Fairy Tale Review, The Blue Issue: The Blue Issue by Kate Bernheimer (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Kate Bernheimer (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Kim Addonizio (Contributor) 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 2006 — 2 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

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Quotes by Donna Tartt

“Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

126 people liked it

“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

102 people liked it

“Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

69 people liked it

See all Donna Tartt's quotes »

Polls

What would you like to read as a group for June 2011?

Lincoln by Gore Vidal

5 votes, 38.5%

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

4 votes, 30.8%

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

3 votes, 23.1%

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

1 vote, 7.7%

13 total votes

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