Scott Stein

Scott Stein is the author of four novels, most recently The Great American Deception (2020) and The Great American Betrayal (2022), both from Tiny Fox Press. The former received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called it “a constant delight” and picked it as a book of the week, and was awarded a “Get It” verdict from Kirkus Reviews. The latter was named one of “The Best Comedy Books of 2022” by New York magazine’s Vulture.com, which said it is “an original story that has something to say about the human condition” and “consistently dances on the edge of absurdity; it’s a great and witty time.” He is writing the third novel in the Great American trilogy.

Scott’s earlier novels are Mean Martin Manning (ENC Press 2007) and Lost (self-published 2000, re-self-published 2019). His satires have been published in The Oxford University Press Humor Reader, McSweeney’s, National Review, Points in Case, and other places. His essays have appeared in a variety of publications, and he has written book reviews for the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 1999, he founded the multi-writer blog When Falls the Coliseum, which, defying all odds and even middling common sense, continues to exist.

A full teaching professor of English at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Scott’s MFA courses include “How Novel: Story, Structure, Scenes, Strategies”; “Prepared to Publish”; and “Making a Scene.” His undergraduate courses include “Writing Fiction”; “Advanced Fiction Workshop”; “Writing Humor and Comedy”; “Writing Your Novel”; “Major Authors: Franz Kafka” and “Superheroes in America.” He has also taught “Writing Humor and Comedy” and other courses at the University of Pennsylvania.

He is co-founder and director of Drexel Publishing Group (DPG) and regularly works with undergraduate student interns. In his role with DPG, he was the founding editor of The 33rd, an annual paperback anthology of student and faculty writing that has been used in Drexel First-Year-Writing courses since 2008, and the founding editor in 2020 of Write Now Philly, an online magazine publishing book reviews and author interviews with a focus on the Philadelphia area. In 2022, Scott produced the nonfiction book A Legacy to Share for the Drexel University Black Alumni Council, which received two CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) awards and was recognized by Philadelphia City Council.

In a past millennium, Scott earned an MFA in Creative Writing, Fiction from the University of Miami, an MA in Liberal Studies from New York University, and a BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Miami. A native of Queens, New York, he now lives outside of Philadelphia. When not writing and doing professory things, he seeks to be king of the suburbs through his aggressive pursuit of backyard gardening, grilling, minor home-improvement projects, and craft beer. (However, everyone in the neighborhood knows that the real king of the suburbs is Buster the mini-labradoodle.)

Visit Scott Stein’s author website for more information about his books, writing, and teaching. You can also find him on Bluesky.