John Burnham Schwartz grew up in New York City. At Harvard College, he majored in Japanese studies, and upon graduation accepted a position with a prominent Wall Street investment bank, before finally turning the position down after selling his first novel. That book, Bicycle Days, was published in 1989 and went on to become a critically acclaimed bestseller.

Reservation Road, his second novel, was made into a major motion picture based on his screenplay.

Mr. Schwartz went on to publish Claire Marvel and The Commoner. Northwest Corner picks up the lives of some of the characters from Reservation Road 12 years later.

Mr. Schwartz's work has been translated into more than 20 languages. He is a recipient of a Lyndhurst Prize for mastery in the art of fiction, and his journalism has appeared widely in such publications as the New Yorker, the New York Times Book Review, the Boston Globe, and Vogue.

He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife, screenwriter and food writer Aleksandra Crapanzano, and their son, Garrick.