The series allowed Furst to discover his voice. He wrote well enough but he had nothing to say and that showed in his stories which is why he was often dismissed as a low list author. The author isn’t afraid to admit that he was a poor fiction writer. However, his first few novels were far from impressive. The first ‘Night Soldiers’ book was not his first attempt at fiction. He read everything he could find about the time period and the setting, building the foundations that eventually became ‘Night Soldiers’, the series for which he is best known. But that gave him the compulsion to do research. The period was fascinating at the time because Furst knew almost nothing about WWII.

Using the kernels he had stumbled upon during his journey, he crafted a spy story set in WWII. Once home, he wrote the article he had promised Esquire. It was an awe-inspiring experience that sparked a fire in his imagination. To write the article, Alan Furst flew to the USSR. But they eventually greenlit the project. The article was important because Esquire was initially reluctant to support it at the time, the Cold War was at its height. One of his most significant undertakings was an Eastern European travel piece he proposed to Esquire. His work appeared in publications like Esquire where his readers took note of his interest in Eastern European locations. He lived in France for a time before moving to Seattle. It was around this same period that he secured a Fullbright teaching fellowship. On top of writing copy for ad agencies, he drove a cab and picked fruit in the years he spent trying to identify his purpose as an artist.įurst married his wife in 1969. The author tried his hand at a number of odd jobs after university. His interest in anthropology led to an encounter with Margaret Mead who became his employer.īesides the MA he got from Penn State University, Furst also pursued and failed to finish his Ph.D. By then, he had already majored in English, eventually graduating with a BA in 1962. He believes that every writer should study anthropology. A former student at Horace Mann School, Furst also attended Oberlin College. As such, growing up in the Upper West Side, he spent a lot of time exploring Manhattan, either alone or with friends. His parents were older and he was an only child.

Alan furst night soldiers series