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Biography
American

Garth Risk Hallberg

1978

Garth Risk Hallberg is an American novelist whose City on Fire (2015) — an 944-page panoramic novel about New York City in the 1970s, centering on a shooting in Central Park on New Year's Eve 1976–77 — was sold at auction for a reported $2 million, one of the largest advances for a debut novel in recent memory. The novel weaves together dozens of characters across the punk scene, Wall Street, and the outer boroughs. His second novel, The Second Coming (2023), was set in post-9/11 New York.

Past sales0
PeriodContemporary
NationalityAmerican
1. Biography

A short life of the author

Garth Risk Hallberg (b. 1978) was born on 22 November 1978 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He grew up in North Carolina and studied at Washington University in St. Louis and New York University.

Life and Career

A Field Guide to the North American Family (2007) was a hybrid text combining photographs and fiction. City on Fire (2015) — a maximalist novel about New York City in the 1976–77 era, following interconnected characters across the punk scene at CBGB, the power structures of a wealthy family, the outer-borough lives of a fireman and a reporter, and the investigation of a shooting in Central Park — was sold at auction for a reported $2 million, making it one of the most expensive debut novels in publishing history.

The novel drew comparisons to Dickens, DeLillo, and Tom Wolfe for its ambition and scope. Reviews were divided: some praised its energy and panoramic reach; others found it overwritten and sprawling. It was adapted as an Apple TV+ series (2023).

The Second Coming (2023) — set in New York across three time periods (2001, 2011, 2021) — was his second novel.

Key Works

  • City on Fire (2015)
  • The Second Coming (2023)

Collecting Hallberg

City on Fire (2015, Knopf) brings $15–$40 for firsts.