Ed Caesar is the author of The Moth and the Mountain, and a contributing staff writer at The New Yorker.
Before joining The New Yorker, Caesar wrote stories for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Outside, The Smithsonian Magazine, Esquire, The Sunday Times Magazine, British GQ and The Independent. He has reported from a wide range of countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, Russia, and Iran. He was once asked by Kevin Costner whether he was “anxious to die”.
Caesar has written long stories about secretive Russian oligarchs, African civil wars, transnational cocaine shipments, marathon tennis matches, British murder trials, wingsuit flying, giant diamonds, shipwrecks, and Tom Wolfe’s elegant apartment. Some of these articles have won awards.
Caesar’s first book, Two Hours, about the world’s greatest distance runners and their quest to run the fastest ever marathon, was published in 2015 by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. and by Viking Press in the U.K., and has since been translated into many different languages. The Spectator said the book was a kind of “Hoop Dreams for runners”, The Observer called it “a celebration of the human spirit”, and The New York Times described Caesar’s writing as “beautiful”. In 2016, Two Hours won a British Sports Book Award.
Caesar’s second book, The Moth and the Mountain, is about the war veteran, mystic, and adventurer Maurice Wilson, who attempted to climb Everest in 1934. Dan Jones, the New York Times bestselling author, called it a “gorgeous and deeply affecting book: a tale of tragedy and obsession, pluck and luck, told at the pace of a thriller and bursting with heart… a fine, fine slice of history by a truly special writer who proves time and time again that he is among the best of his generation.” Other reviews can be found on The Moth and the Mountain’s page on this website. The book was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award, and was named the Sunday Times Biography of the Year.
American readers can buy The Moth and the Mountain here. British readers can buy the book here.
Caesar is 44 years old, and lives in Manchester. His literary agent is Karolina Sutton at CAA.
