Richard Kalich was born in New York and grew up on the Upper West side. His mother always encouraged her sons to be writers, scholars, artists, poets. Kalich certainly fulfilled her wishes; he went on to write some of the most original American fiction in a generation. He is the author of Central Park West Trilogy which includes three of his previous novels: The Nihilesthete (1987), Penthouse F (2010) and Charlie P (2005). He has been nominated for the National Book Award and for a Pulitzer Prize. His novels are internationally acclaimed and widely translated: his novels have been published in Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Israel, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, and Japan. Kalich was born and lives in New York where he co-directs a film company with his twin brother, Robert Kalich, also a writer.