Adam C. Begley (born 1959 Boston, Massachusetts) is an American freelance writer, and was the books editor for the New York Observer from 1996-2009.[2] Begley is the son of Sally (Higginson) and novelist Louis Begley. He graduated from Harvard College, and from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in 1989. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and the Financial Times.[3] He lives with his wife, Anne Cotton, and stepchildren, in Oundle, Northamptonshire. He wrote a biography of author John Updike, published by HarperCollins in 2014