NYT bestseller The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel to be optioned
Priority Pictures, the production company of Emmy-winning producers Lizzie Friedman, Karen Lauder, and Greg Little, has optioned Douglas Brunt‘s NYT bestseller The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel and will develop it for the screen, Deadline has learned.
Initial Book Tour Events Announced
Douglas Brunt’s tour schedule can now be seen on the Events Calendar. You can see where and when he will be appearing. Some events are virtual.
“…one of the strangest celebrity disappearing acts in modern history. Absolutely riveting.”
“I loved this book as mesmerizing, you-can’t-make-this-up history about political leaders, inventors, and robber barons in the run-up to World War One; but I also devoured it as one of the strangest celebrity disappearing acts in modern history. Absolutely riveting.” –Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and The Lioness
“…a page turning crime thriller.. delivers a significant new understanding of the forces that shaped the outcome of World War I and beyond.”
“The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel is a page turning crime thriller that also delivers a significant new understanding of the forces that shaped the outcome of World War I and beyond. This fascinating story, told in the most vivid fashion, about a name so many recognize has been missed by true crime aficionados and historians alike -- until now. An important addition to 20th century history”. –Dan Abrams, ABC News Chief Legal Analyst and bestselling author of Alabama v. King
“Brunt mixes a historian's respect for research with a novelist's eye for character”
More praise for The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel; “Outstanding - Brunt mixes a historian's respect for research with a novelist's eye for character, adds fascinating context and connections, and reaches a conclusion worthy of James Bond - literally.” –Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Dedicated with Doug Brunt: Emily St. John Mandel
Emily talks about the unstructured education of her childhood homeschooling and how that upbringing opened doors to literature, her growing confidence as an author, how she plunges into a new novel without an outline, the life-changing attention after STATION ELEVEN, the differences between writing for TV and writing a novel, and she reveals her beliefs about whether we're all living in a simulation.
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Downloads
Doug Brunt’s publisher for “The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel” has provided a set of media for your social feeds and book clubs. You can download them from this post.
Explore the Case of Rudolf Diesel
Uncover the historical figures, the industrialists, the technology and the strange events around Rudolf Diesel’s disappearance. This is a valuable resource for Book Clubs or readers who want to dig deeper into this fascinating real-life story.
Author’s Note: “The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel”
Douglas Brunt's introduction to his fascinating new work offers some insights for readers and book groups to the story behind the story: “I came upon a list of “mysterious disappearances at sea.” Down the list a bit I saw the name Rudolf Diesel and wondered if there was any connection between this person and my new Diesel marine engines. I clicked to a summary of the events of September 29, 1913, and began the extraordinary voyage that led to this book…”
Jennifer Egan: Dedicated With Doug Brunt
Jennifer Egan: Gold Rush (2 ounces bourbon, 3/4 ounce lemon, 3/4 ounce honey, lemon twist)
Trailer: Dedicated With Doug Brunt
Beginning with our guest’s favorite cocktail, Dedicated offers an insider’s look at the lives and work of your favorite authors.
A note from Douglas Brunt
“The first thing I do after I’ve finished reading a novel is to flip back to the beginning and read the author’s first sentence again.
All novelists try to set the trajectory for the book with the first paragraphs of the first chapter. As a novelist myself, I love the opportunity to write that first sentence.
Once readers of my books have completed the journey with me, if they come back around to re-read the first sentence, they should have a greater understanding of it.” –Douglas Brunt
Douglas Brunt: Interview at Politics and Prose with Megyn Kelly
“Part fairy tale and part cautionary tale, Brunt’s third novel follows the life of a tennis prodigy from early promise to full stardom. Driven by personal ambition and shaped by coaches, Anton Stratis lives the dream of professional tennis…”
Audio Interview with William Silber and Douglas Brunt
By turns hilarious and harrowing, Ghosts of Manhattan (Douglas Brunt) follows a winning but flawed protagonist as he struggles to find the right path in a complicated urban heart of darkness. Here is an audio interview with Doug from The Law Business Insider.
“Trophy Son”: Excerpt
In the end, man shapes the world, but the world gets the first crack at us. We’re not much more than a puddle before we’re two years old, and then more years to develop so we can survive on our own. Until then we take in more impressions than we give.
The Collapse of Bear Stearns: Interview with Doug Brunt
“[Ghosts of Manhattan] is a fictional story, but it is set within a historically accurate context in 2005, 2006, so, the years leading up to the mortgage-related financial crisis. And it follows the life of a fixed income salesman for Bear Stearns. And, so you really get a look at Wall Street from the inside out. It has that sort of insider baseball feel of what is life like day to day on the trading floor. As well as away from the office, which is, for folks who are on fixed income sales and trading, still part of the job.
Doug Brunt on CBS This Morning
“New York Times best-selling author Doug Brunt is out with his third novel, "Trophy Son." It chronicles the intense and isolating life of Anton, a young tennis prodigy. Despite the highs that come with each win, Anton struggles with his identity off the court. Brunt joins "CBS This Morning" with more on his new novel.”
In ‘Trophy Son,’ Fictional Character Accuses Real Life Tennis Stars of Doping
By Stuart Miller, New York Times
The professional tennis trainer Bobby Hicks claims nearly everyone at or near the top of the men’s tour uses performance-enhancing drugs.
“It’s pervasive in tennis and has been for years,” Hicks said.
And he is willing to name names, starting with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and David Ferrer.
There is one catch to these very public accusations: Bobby Hicks is a fictional character.
Hicks appears in Douglas Brunt’s new novel, “Trophy Son,” which will be released next week. It tells the story of Anton Stratis, a tennis prodigy whose childhood is stripped away by an ambitious father who nurtures talent and resentment in his son. Stratis, his entourage and his rivals are all made up.
Today: Douglas Brunt on his novel ‘Trophy Son’
Kathie Lee and Hoda welcome best-selling author Douglas Brunt, who talks about “Trophy Son,” his novel about an overbearing father who pushes his son to become the world’s greatest tennis player. He talks about how sports takes kids away from family time and reveals that he and his wife, Megyn Kelly (who’s watching), are already discussing the issue in relation to their three kids. Watch the interview here.
Town & Country: “A New Novel Explores the Dark Side of Professional Tennis”
There's a moment in the novel Trophy Son where a friend reminds main character Anton Stratis: "The bigger the star, the bigger the sacrifice." It's a theme that runs throughout the book, which follows tennis prodigy Anton as he deals with an obsessive and overbearing father, navigates the competitive world of professional sports (and the performance-enhancing drugs that inevitably come with it), and struggles to figure out who he is outside the court.
Trophy Son… is at once a fascinating look inside this milieu and also a cautionary tale about the dangers of our achievement-obsessed society. Below, author Douglas Brunt talks to T&C; about the sports world, the domino effects of early excellence, and how he plans to raise his three kids with wife Megyn Kelly.