Tony Cohan

Tony Cohan grew up in Manhattan and Los Angeles, where at the age of fourteen he made his debut as a jazz musician. After attending Stanford and the University of California he spent two years in Europe and North Africa, performing with jazz artists Dexter Gordon, Bud Powell and blind Catalan pianist Tete Monteliu. Returning to San Francisco, he worked briefly at the University of California Press before moving to Kyoto, Japan for two years to teach and write. Back in California, he wrote an unpublished first novel (and a published erotic novel) and worked as a studio musician with Lowell George, Ry Cooder, and others. During the 1970s he designed media campaigns for musical artists including Van Morrison, Pink Floyd, and Prince. In 1975 he founded the long-running independent press Acrobat Books, publishing nonfiction books in the arts. His 1981 novel Canary (Doubleday) was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, his 1984 novel Opium (Simon and Schuster) a Literary Guild selection. His bestselling travel narrative On Mexican Time (Random House, 2001) was followed by an autobiographical memoir, Native State (Random House, 2003), a Los Angeles Times Notable Book of the Year, and a second travel narrative, Mexican Days (Random House, 2007). His collaborations as lyricist with pianist and composer Chick Corea include the jazz classic High Wire. His essays, stories, articles, songs and reviews have appeared in a variety of media worldwide. His most recent novel is Valparaíso.