Who

Gopnik is a New Yorker staff writer and the author of three books.

Backstory

Gopnik grew up in Montreal and moved to the city in 1980 to attend graduate school, spending week after week, he says, submitting short essays to The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town" section. His persistence eventually paid off: In 1986, the picky literary magazine published one of his pieces and following the arrival of Tina Brown in 1992, Gopnik was hired as a New Yorker staff writer. From 1995 to 2000, he penned the much loved "Letter from Paris" column. More recently, he's chronicled the foibles of raising children in New York, including his misadventures as the coach of his son's soccer team, dealing with his daughter's imaginary friend, and explaining to his children the death of their pet fish.

In print

Gopnik's bestselling book, 2001's Paris to the Moon, was a collection of essays he'd written for The New Yorker over the years. In 2005 he published a quirky children's novel, The King in the Window, about an 11-year-old boy in 17th century clothing who "engages in battle with the diabolical Master of Mirrors, chats with Nostradamus, and helps rescue an elderly Alice in Wonderland."(Publishers Weekly described it as "Harry Potter for the Mensa set.") Gopnik's most recent book was another collection of essays, 2007's Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York.

Grudge

Gopnik's writing has been described as precious and pretentious by some. One especially vocal critic is Vanity Fair's James Wolcott: "I sometimes wonder if Adam Gopnik was put on this earth to annoy. If so, mission accomplished," Wolcott wrote in the New Republic.

Trophy case

In 1997, Gopnik took home the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting.

Personal

Gopnik and wife Martha Parker live on East 88th Street with their two kids, Luke and Olivia.