David Goodwillie (author)

David Goodwillie is an American novelist, memoirist and journalist. He has published two books: the novel American Subversive (Scribner, 2010)[1] and the memoir Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (Algonquin, 2006). Hailed as "genuinely thrilling" by The New Yorker, and "a triumphant work of fiction" by the Associated Press, American Subversive was a New York Times Notable Book and Editors Choice of 2010, and a Vanity Fair and Publishers Weekly top ten spring debut. Upon publication of his previous book, Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, he was named one of the Best New Writers of 2006 by members of the PEN American Center.

His third book, the novel "Kings County", was sold to Simon & Schuster in September 2017, in what Publishers Marketplace described as a "significant deal."

He has written several investigative features for national magazines, including a 2012 cover story on "Nuclear Divers" for Popular Science, and an exposé on the Italian Mafia's activities in Manhattan's garment trucking industry for the Fall 1997 issue of BlackBook magazine.

Goodwillie has written about books for The New York Times and The Daily Beast, and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in New York Magazine, Newsweek, Popular Science, Men's Health, BlackBook, The New York Observer, The New York Post, The Rumpus, and Deadspin.

David was born in Paris and grew up in and around London, New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.. He graduated from Kenyon College in May 1994 and a week later was invited to try out for the Cincinnati Reds. Though he was soon drafted to play professional baseball by the Newark Buffalos of the Class-A Frontier League, his career was short-lived. After being released he moved to New York City.

In the mid and late 1990s David held a series of improbable jobs. He was a private investigator for Kroll Associates, an expert at Sotheby's auction house, and investigative magazine journalist, and an Internet entrepreneur. In 1999, as the Sports Specialist at Sotheby's Auction House, David presided over the $22 million sale of The Barry Halper Collection, the largest privately owned baseball memorabilia collection in the world. These and other adventures are detailed in his 2006 memoir, Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time.

• USA Today Story about memoir writing, featuring David Goodwillie and his publisher, Algonquin.
• Daily Beast review
• NPR coverage of American Subversive
• NYT review of American Subversive
• NYT Papercuts playlist

• Official website
• Chelsea Hotel interview
• StackedUp TV episode