James Greer (writer)
James Greer | |
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 Greer in 2010
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1991–present |
| Notable work | Bad Eminence, Unsane, The Failure |
| Style | Post-modernism, experimental literature |
James Greer is an American novelist, screenwriter, director, musician, and critic. As a screenwriter, he is known for writing the 2018 thriller Unsane directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Claire Foy and Juno Temple, as well as the family comedies Max Keeble's Big Move, Just My Luck and The Spy Next Door. He lives in Los Angeles.
Career
Musician/Critic
Greer was senior editor and senior writer at Spin magazine in New York City in the early 1990s, during which time he helped define the generational cohort that became later widely-known as Generation X.
He wrote and performed all instruments/vocals on the song "Trendspotter Acrobat" on the EP Sunfish Holy Breakfast by Guided By Voices. He was the bassist in the band from 1994 to 1996.
Greer started a band in 2012 with musician Lola G. called DTCV. Pronounced "detective", it was an indie rock duo from Joshua Tree, California. The band released a double album called Hilarious Heaven in 2013 on Xemu Records, followed by a compilation of their early singles and EPs, The Early Year. The duo released their second studio album, Uptime!, in 2015. In April 2016 the band released its third and final studio album, entitled Confusion Moderne, on Xemu Records.
Novelist/Author
Greer has published three novels: Artificial Light (Little House on the Bowery/Akashic, 2006), The Failure (Akashic, 2010). Artificial Light won a California Book Award Silver Medal for First Fiction. and Bad Eminence (And Other Stories, 2022), which Andrew Gallix in The Irish Times called "this year's cult classic," writing that the novel was "hilarious, exhilarating and mind-blowing"
In 2013 Greer released his first book of short fiction, titled Everything Flows, via Curbside Splendor. Publishers Weekly said of the book "Halfway between the mind of God and a vivid dream, Everything Flows is proof that there remain new places to go, both on paper and in the known universe."
FICTION
- Artificial Light (2006)
- The Failure (2010)
- The Speed Chronicles (2011)
- Everything Flows (2013)
- Bad Eminence (2023)
NON-FICTION
- R.E.M.: Behind the Mask (1992)
- Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll (2005)
Screenwriter
Greer has written or co-written several movies, including Max Keeble's Big Move (Disney, 2001), Just My Luck (20th Century Fox, 2006) starring Lindsay Lohan, the Jackie Chan vehicle The Spy Next Door (Lions Gate, 2010) and Unsane, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and starring Claire Foy and Juno Temple (Fingerprint Releasing, Bleecker Street, Regency, 2018). In February 2018, Deadline Hollywood reported that Greer was set to write a script called Planet Kill for Soderbergh to produce. He also has adapted the John Barth novel The Sot-Weed Factor (novel) for a projected series from Soderbergh.
Discography
- Alien Lanes (1995)
- Sunfish Holy Breakfast (1996)
- Under The Bushes, Under The Stars (1996)
DTCV
- Hilarious Heaven (2013)
- Uptime! (2015)
- Confusion Moderne (2016)
Filmography
Writer
FILM
- 2023 - Mirror Moves (director/writer)
- 2018 - Unsane
- 2010 - The Spy Next Door (screenplay) / (story)
- 2008 - La femme qui n'était rien (Short)
- 2008 - Bait Shop (Video) (teleplay)
- 2008 - Diegesis (Short)
- 2006 - Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft (Video short)
- 2006/II - Mimesis (Short)
- 2006 - Just My Luck (story)
- 2006 - Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
- 2001 - Max Keeble's Big Move (screenplay) / (story)
TV
- The Horse's Mouth (writer/co-creator)
Director
- 2023 - Mirror Moves (feature film)
- 2017 - A Walk Across the Human Bridge (Video short)
- 2016 - Bourgeois Pop (Video short)
- 2015 - Miley Cyrus Wins the Race (Video short)
- 2008 - La femme qui n'était rien (Short)
- 2008 - Diegesis (Short)
- 2006 - Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft (Video short)
- 2006/II - Mimesis (Short)