Tom Perrotta
A sharp-eyed chronicler of suburban discontent, he transforms quiet desperation into darkly funny and deeply resonant novels and screenplays.
Born 1961 (age 65)·American novelist·Birthday: August 13·Baby Boomers
Biography
Tom Perrotta possesses a singular gift for excavating the profound anxieties simmering beneath the placid surface of American suburbia. With a background in English literature from Yale and Syracuse University, he began writing stories that treated the familiar landscapes of strip malls and school parking lots as fertile ground for existential drama. His breakthrough came with 'Election', a pitch-perfect satire of high school politics that became an instant classic film. He repeated the feat with 'Little Children', a novel about parental angst that he adapted into an Oscar-nominated screenplay. Perrotta's work is neither cynical nor sentimental; he approaches his flawed characters with a humane curiosity, finding the universal in their very specific failures and yearnings. This ability to tap into the cultural moment culminated in 'The Leftovers', a daring exploration of collective grief that found an even wider audience as a critically adored HBO series.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Tom was born in 1961, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Tom Was Born
The biggest hits of 1961
#1 Movie
101 Dalmatians
Best Picture
West Side Story
#1 TV Show
Wagon Train
Tom's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1961Born
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1966Started school
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1974Became a teenager
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Could drive
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1979Could vote
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1982Turned 21
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1991Turned 30
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2001Turned 40
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
2011Turned 50
Osama bin Laden killed; Arab Spring sweeps the Middle East
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $138,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Rolling in the Deep" — AdeleBest Picture: The Artist
2021Turned 60
January 6 Capitol breach; COVID vaccines roll out globally
Gas: $3.01/galHome: $298,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Levitating" — Dua LipaBest Picture: CODA
2026Age 65 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Wrote the novel 'Election' (1998), which was adapted into the acclaimed film starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon.
- Co-wrote the screenplay for 'Little Children' (2006), earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- Authored 'The Leftovers' (2011), which was adapted into a critically celebrated HBO television series.
- His novel 'Mrs. Fletcher' (2017) was adapted into an HBO series starring Kathryn Hahn.
- Received the New York Times Notable Book designation for multiple works including 'Joe College' and 'The Abstinence Teacher'.
Did You Know?
He taught creative writing at Harvard University and Yale University before focusing on writing full-time.
The film 'Election' was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2020 for being culturally significant.
He was a writer and producer on the HBO adaptation of 'The Leftovers'.
His early novel 'The Wishbones' is about a wedding band musician.
““Suburbia is the place where the American dream is supposed to come true, so it's also the place where you see the gap between the dream and the reality.””
