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Jonathan Lee

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.jonathanleewriter.com/

Twitter

jonleewriter

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime

Influences

E.L. Doctorow Colm Toibin Gabriel Garcia Marquez George Saunders Hilar ...more

Member Since

March 2016

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“THE GREAT MISTAKE is a great New York story.” —Entertainment Weekly

“The best American novel of the year.” —The Guardian

“Seriously entertaining...The detective work is ingenious.” —The Sunday Times (London)

JONATHAN LEE's new novel, THE GREAT MISTAKE (June 2021) dramatizes the mysterious life and murder of a real historical figure — Andrew Haswell Green — who was central to the creation of Central Park, The Met, The New York Public Library, and much more.

Jonathan's previous book HIGH DIVE was named a best book of the year in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The New Yorker.

Jonathan is also editor in chief of the indie publishing house Catapult in NYC, publishing work he loves by authors like Chelsea Bieker, Jon ...more

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Combine Editions
Jonathan Lee’s books

Average rating: 3.54 · 5,785 ratings · 875 reviews · 59 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Great Mistake 3.58 avg rating — 2,712 ratings — published 2021 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	High Dive 3.49 avg rating — 2,429 ratings — published 2014 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	Who is Mr Satoshi? 3.51 avg rating — 312 ratings — published 2010 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	Joy 3.34 avg rating — 217 ratings — published 2012 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	40 Single Gay : A coming of age memoir 4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	Appropriate Applause 2.60 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2004 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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 Boy at the Window liked it 3.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2005 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	Emotional Intelligence 2.0: A Guide Step by Step for Mastery Your Emotions and Boost Your EQ. Improve Your Social Skills and How to Analyze People. ... Nonverbal Communications. Hardcover Edition 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	High Dive (Excerpt) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	Vagus Nerve: Unleash Your Body's and Activate Your Vagus Nerve through Self-Help Techniques and many Exercises. Overcome Depression and Anxiety 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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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2 posts
Jonathan Lee's Blog

Is historical fiction being reinvented?

I just wrote an essay for the New York Times Book Review on historical fiction. Here's how it starts:

In an interview in 2012, Hilary Mantel, the author of the “Wolf Hall” trilogy, was asked if she felt any trepidation writing about the Tudors. “Much historical fiction that centers on real people has always been deficient in information, lacking in craft and empty in affect,” she replied. Then she Read more of this blog post »

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Published on June 17, 2021 07:00 • Tags: historical-fiction

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Jonathan is Currently Reading

Jonathan Lee is currently reading

Are You Enjoying?

by Mira Sethi

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 01, 2021 06:48AM

Jonathan Lee is currently reading

Libertie

by Kaitlyn Greenidge

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May 28, 2021 04:49AM

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Jonathan’s Recent Updates

Jonathan Lee is now friends with Garrard Conley
Nov 06, 2023 08:28PM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by Jonathan Lee (?)

“At the age of eighty-three he had the self-awareness necessary to be patient with other people, but not always the facility to disguise the effort.”
― Jonathan Lee, The Great Mistake

tags: old-age, patience, patience-quotes, self-awareness

3 likes

“Viv used to say there were two types of person in life, past tense and present tense. Viv had seen herself as a present-tense person, which gave her an excuse never to discuss what she felt about a thing that had already happened.”
― Jonathan Lee, High Dive

2 likes

“The difference, in the end, between life and death is perhaps nothing more than movement?”
― Jonathan Lee, The Great Mistake

tags: life-and-death, movement

2 likes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Tournament of Books: High Dive	15	104	Feb 27, 2017 12:14PM
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	3039	704	Feb 28, 2017 09:01PM
Tournament of Books: 2017 Shortlist	762	576	Mar 08, 2017 07:22AM
Crazy Challenge C...: How Many Pages? - 2016	384	238	Mar 10, 2017 09:24AM
Crazy Challenge C...: 2016 Namedroppers	283	216	May 10, 2017 08:37AM
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	2760	473	May 31, 2017 09:01PM
Crazy Challenge C...: Outdoor Clean-Up	136	171	Jul 03, 2017 05:21PM

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Jonathan’s Quotes

2 likes

“You disintegrated into the recriminations, the headlines, the pictures. You scattered yourself into proofs, warnings, suspicions, arrests. You rode out into the dark outrage of others, saw human loss shaped towards political ends, and though you hoped for the occasional gleam of uncontaminated compassion it seemed that the world was dimming.”
― Jonathan Lee, High Dive

1 likes

“She hated this feeling, the sensation of trying and failing to get her arms around something big. The way political opinions seemed always to be expressed with a total sureness of tone. The way that sureness was at odds with every true thought she'd ever had.”
― Jonathan Lee, High Dive

1 likes

“It is always better to clear the air, even if the air often stinks.”
― Jonathan Lee, High Dive

1 likes

“The sagebrush is so short in some places that it is not large enough to make a fire, so we had to drive until quite late before we camped that night. After driving all day over what seemed a level desert of sand, we came about sundown to a beautiful cañon, down which we had to drive for a couple of miles before we could cross. In the cañon the shadows had already fallen, but when we looked up we could see the last shafts of sunlight on the tops of the great bare buttes. Suddenly a great wolf started from somewhere and galloped along the edge of the cañon, outlined black and clear by the setting sun. His curiosity overcame him at last, so he sat down and waited to see what manner of beast we were. I reckon he was disappointed for he howled most dismally. I thought of Jack London's "The Wolf.”
― Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Letters Of A Woman Homesteader: By Elinore Pruitt : Illustrated

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