Don Carpenter was an American writer, best known as the author of Hard Rain Falling. He wrote numerous novels, novellas, short stories, and screenplays over the course of a 22-year career that took him from a childhood in Berkeley and the Pacific Northwest to the corridors of power and ego in Hollywood.
A close observer of human frailty, his writing depicted marginal characters like pool sharks, prisoners, and drug dealers, as well as movie moguls and struggling actors. Although lauded by critics and fellow writers alike, Carpenter’s novels and stories never reached a mass audience and he supported himself with extensive work for Hollywood. Facing a mounting series of debilitating illnesses, Don Carpenter committed suicide in 1995.
Books in order of publication:
Hard Rain Falling – 1964
Blade Of Light – 1969
Getting Off – 1971
The True Life Story of Jody McKeegan – 1975
A Couple of Comedians – 1979
Turnaround – 1981
The Class of ’49: A Novel and Two Stories – 1985
From a Distant Place – 1988
Fridays at Enrico’s – 2014
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