David Brooks

David Brooks was born on August 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, then moved to New York City where he spent his childhood. His parents were both academics, his father teaching at NYU and his mother studying history at Columbia University. Although he was raised Jewish, Brooks rarely attended synagogue and hasn’t since fully converted to any religion. His family moved to Pennsylvania where Brooks graduated High School in 1979. From there, he went to the University of Chicago to study history. After graduating, he became a police reporter in Chicago, where witnessing crime led him into more conservative political views. He then accepted an internship writing reviews for The National Review and got a taste of high-class life. After his internship ended, he wrote reviews for The Washington Times and then was hired by The Wall Street Journal as editor of the book review section. He published his first book in 2000, a social commentary called Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There. It received considerable acclaim and got him noticed by the New York Times. He began writing for the Times in 2003, filling an important role as a conservative commentator who could nonetheless understand the liberal point of view. Brooks has appeared as a guest lecturer at Duke University and Yale University, is a commentator on NPR and the PBS News Hour and continues to write for the Times. He currently lives in Maryland.