Biography of Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn was born on February 24, 1971 in Kansas City. Both her parents were professors, and Flynn, who was a shy child, spent much of her childhood reading and writing. She studied English and journalism at the University of Kansas, followed by a Master's degree in journalism at Northwestern University. After experimenting with police reporting and freelance journalism, she was hired by Entertainment Weekly in 1998, where she would go on to write as a film and television critic.

Flynn's first novel, Sharp Objects, was published in 2006 while she was still working at Entertainment Weekly. The novel won a number of awards and was followed by her second novel, Dark Places in 2009. In 2008, Flynn was laid off from her job at Entertainment Weekly, an experience which she drew on in writing Gone Girl. Gone Girl, published in June 2012, is Flynn's most successful work to date. It furthers her interests in crime and dark secrets, situating these questions within the context of a modern marriage.

Flynn is married to lawyer Brett Nolan and lives with him and their two children in Chicago.


Study Guides on Works by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl was released on June 5, 2012, and was Flynn's third novel. Gone Girl was the #1 New York Times Bestseller for eight straight weeks and spent more than one hundred weeks on the bestseller list all together. By the end of 2012, Gone Girl...

Written by Gillian Flynn of Gone Girl fame, Sharp Objects (Flynn's debut novel which was published in 2006) tells the story of a woman named Camille Preaker. After a while away and after a short spell at a psychiatric hospital, Preaker returns to...