Anthony Doerr

Anthony Doerr

Anthony Doerr was born on October 27th, 1973 and is currently 52 years old. Anthony Doerr was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Doerr attended Bowdoin College where he received a B.A. in History and Bowling Green State University where he received a Master of Fine Arts.

Anthony Doerr has written 3 standalone novels, starting with About Grace in 2004. The most recently released novel was Cloud Cuckoo Land, which was released in 2021. There are no upcoming standalone novels by Anthony at this time.

Anthony Doerr has also written the Short Story Collections series which has 2 books including The Shell Collector and Memory Wall.

Anthony Doerr: Awards & Accolades

Doerr's books have won multiple awards, The Shell Collector won the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, Best Fiction by a New Writer, in 2002. All the Light We Cannot See won the Goodreads Awards, Best Historical Fiction, in 2014 as well as the BookBrowse Awards - Best Fiction Book in 2014, Alex Awards - Best Book in 2015, Audie Award - Best Fiction in 2015, Nielsen Awards - Silver Bestseller in 2017.

The following novels by Anthony Doerr were nominated for these awards:

• Fifteenth Annual Collection: Bram Stoker Awards, Superior Achievement in an Anthology (2002). World Fantasy Award, Anthology (2003). British Fantasy Award, Best Anthology (2003).
• All the Light We Cannot See: National Book Awards, Best Fiction (2014). Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Fiction (2015). Goodreads Awards, Best of the Best (2018).
• Cloud Cuckoo Land: Goodreads Awards, Best Fiction (2021). National Book Awards, Best Fiction (2021). British Book Awards, Fiction Book of the Year (2022). Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Fiction (2022).

Anthony Doerr: Lists & Other Mentions

• All the Light We Cannot See has made several lists including:
  1. New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2014 and 2015.
  2. Barnes & Noble: #1 Hardcover Fiction Best Seller in 2014 and 2015.
  3. AbeBooks: 100 (Fiction) Books to Read in a Lifetime Selection in 2018.
  4. The Sunday Times: 100 21st-Century Novels to Love Selection in 2019.
  5. Parade: 125 Best Romance Books of All Time Selection in 2024.
  6. AbeBooks: 50 Essential Historical Fiction Books Selection in 2021.
  7. WordsRated: America’s 100 Favorite Books Selection in 2024.
  8. Chicago Tribune: Best Books of the Decade (2010s) Selection in 2019.
  9. Publishers Weekly: Bestselling Novel in the United States in 2015 and 2016.
  10. President Obama: Summer Reading List Selection in 2015.
  11. Los Angeles Times: The 30 Best Fiction Books of the Last 30 Years Selection in 2025.
  12. Waterstones: The Books You've Always Meant to Read Selection in 2020.
• Cloud Cuckoo Land was a Time Magazine: 100 Must-Read Books Selection in 2021 and a New York Times: 100 Notable Books Selection in 2021.

All the Light We Cannot See was listed at #25 on the Los Angeles Times "Best Fiction Books of the Last 30 Years" list, which was published in April 2025.

Related Authors

Fans of Anthony Doerr also enjoy these authors:

1. Markus Zusak, author of: The Book Thief.
2. Kristin Hannah, author of: The Nightingale.
3. Kate Atkinson, author of the Jackson Brodie Series.
4. George Orwell, author of: 1984.
5. Kristin Harmel, author of: The Book of Lost Names.
6. James McBride, author of: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
7. John Boyne, author of: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
8. Pam Jenoff, author of: The Lost Girls of Paris.
9. Ernest Hemingway, author of: The Old Man and the Sea.
10. Madeline Martin, author of: The Last Bookshop in London.

Anthony Doerr: F.A.Q