David Levien biography, plus links to book reviews and book excerpts from books by David Levien.

David Levien Biography

David Levien is a screen-writer who has co-authored many box-office hits such as Ocean's Thirteen and Runaway Jury.  When asked to compare the differences between writing a screen-play and a novel, Mr. Levien says, "In a novel the entire experience must be created on the page in a finished form; this puts a lot of pressure to create detail in the writing that often on the screen can be created with the use of music and visuals".

City of the Sun took over three years to write, with many scenes created on the morning train as he commuted from his home in Connecticut to his office in Manhattan.   Levien has always had an interest in true-crime, following accounts of abductions for almost two decades.  His step-father, with a decorated career in law enforcement, worked some kidnappings which further fueled his fascination.

Although Levien has lived in Los Angeles and New York for much of his life, he chose Indianapolis as the setting for City of the Sun for several reasons. He went to school in the Midwest (Michigan) so he feels a connection to that part of the country and chose Indianapolis as representative of a fairly safe city. Levien feels that when a crime strikes in a seemingly bucolic setting, where children and families are more unguarded, it is more horrific.  He is currently working on an adaptation of the novel to a screen-play, hoping the movie will be made at some point in the near future.

City of the Sun is his third novel following Rounders (1998), based on the screenplay of the same name, which he co-wrote with Kevin Canty and Brian Koppelman; Wormwood (1999), which Kirkus Reviews describes as, "Among the top savagings of Hollywood since Budd Schulberg's 1941 What Makes Sammy Run?; and Swagbelly: A Novel for Today's Gentleman (2003), also set in Hollywood, which Booklist describes as, "A clever morality tale, despite reading on occasion like an overheated letter to Penthouse."

This biography was last updated on 02/27/2008.

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