Meg Wolitzer was born in New York in 1959 as the daughter of the writer Hilma Wolitzer.
After completing her study of Creative Writing, in 1982 she published her first novel,
»Sleepwalking«, about three female college students who share an interest in poetry and death. Along with two other stories, in 1991 she published »Nutcrackers: Devilishly Addictive Mind Twisters for the Insatiably Verbivorous«, a book of cryptic crossword puzzles that she created together with Jesse Green. In 1994, »Friends for Life« appeared. In it, Wolitzer describes the hectic life of three school chums who are now women in their thirties. Their bond is stronger than family could ever be. After her novel »This Is My Life« (1988) was filmed by Nora Ephron in 1992, in 2006 »Surrender, Dorothy« (1999) was also made into a television movie. In 2003, the author created a stir with her book »The Wife«. In this passionate, often satirical, but precise story about the personal and societal challenges, that a relationship suffered over time since the 1950s, until the heroine decides to break out of her marriage and set the course of her own life again. In her accustomed provocative way, her » New York Times« bestseller »The Ten-Year Nap« (2008) takes up the question whether modern women must decide between children and career. In 2013, Wolitzer had her biggest success so far with the novel »The Interestings«. Reviews noted that the writer succeeded in dealing with difficult themes like gender, identity, and the position of the modern woman in an entertaining way, since she is able to transform her anger into wit, rather than bitterness. This story about a clique of big city youngsters who accept a girl from the boonies is impressive for it believable characterization of the figures, whose contradictions permit differentiated answers to the question whether it is talent, luck, or resolution that determines a person’s path in life. In 2011, Wolitzer published the young people’s book »The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman«, followed by »Belzhar« (2014), a story about how one deals with the loss of one’s first love. In 2012, in her much-noticed Essay »The Second Shelf« she criticized the second-class treatment of female authors whose work is often belittled as light fiction or »chick lit« because of its presentation.
Meg Wolitzer lives in New York.