David benioff biography city of thieves board

Interview

A conversation with David Benioff about The City of Thieves, set during the World War II Siege of Leningrad.

City of Thieves begs the question: Did all this really happen to your grandfather?

City of Thieves is a book about two boys, during the German invasion of Russia, whose paths are intertwined.

No. My grandfather was born on a farm in Delaware. He became a furrier and died in Allentown, Pennsylvania. My grandmother (unlike the non-cooking grandmother in the book) made the best chopped chicken liver in the state.

David Benioff was born and raised in New York City.

During the Nazis' brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya.

His latest novel is City of Thieves.

With rich character development, deep insights and an odd bit of humor, David Benioff spins the story about the heartbreaking siege of Leningrad.

City of Thieves by David Benioff is a gripping novel set during the siege of Leningrad in World War II. It follows the unlikely friendship between two young men.

Neither one, as far as I know, ever visited Russia.


David notes, "Truth might be stranger than fiction, but it needs a better editor." (p. 4) How much "editing" did you do?

See answer to number one.

A whole lot.


How much additional research did you do to write this novel?

I had a wonderful teacher once, the novelist Ann Patchett. I asked her about the research she did for The Magician's Assistant, and she told me to choose the single best book on the given subject and st