Stefan Kanfer

Stefan Kanfer is the author of a dozen books on a wide range of subjects. His most recent work, Stardust Lost, a history of the Yiddish Theatre, was published by Knopf in October.

A collection of his pieces on theater, The Voodoo That They Did So Well, will be published next winter. The author's most recent biographies: Ball of Fire, about the sources of Lucille Ball's comedy, and Groucho, concerning the life and wit of Groucho Marx, were both national bestsellers, as was The Last Empire, a social history of the De Beers diamond company. One of his novels, The Eighth Sin, centering on the fate of gypsies in World War II, was a Book of the Month selection, and led to an appointment on the President's Commission on the Holocaust.

Kanfer was a writer, critic and editor at Time magazine for more than 20 years; his articles and reviews have appeared in most major publications. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including installation as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library. Currently he serves on the editorial board of City Journal, a quarterly published by the Manhattan Institute. He and his wife May, a consultant at the Early Child Center of Sarah Lawrence College, live in Westchester, New York. They have two married children, Lili, a teacher in the Connecticut school system, and Ethan, a Manhattan-based writer.

Visit his website here.