“The Indifferent Stars Above is an ideal pairing of talent and material."

---Mary Roach, The New York Times Book Review


Click to read the full NYT review.

"...a remarkable book...hard to put down..."

--The Seattle Times


Click to read the entire Seattle Times review.

"Daniel James Brown brings the myth to life, transforming faint history class memories into gripping reality."

--Rebecca Steinitz, BookPage


Click to read the full BookPage review.

"Brown draws from the many previously published accounts of the tragedy, letters from the party and those who knew them, accounts of life on the Oregon and California trails, genealogical databases, and his own travel along the trail...but he tells the tale with a novelist’s touch."

--The Boston Globe


"A supple, readable, and well-researched narrative...Never melodramatic or maudlin, Brown's work gracefully balances graphic depictions of extreme privation with humanizing glimpses of the emigrants' everyday hopes and fears. Brown also skillfully weaves relevant historical, cultural, and scientific information into his chronicle, creating a rich and contextualized background. Likely to appeal to true adventure and history fans..."

--Ingrid Levin, Library Journal


" As in his previous book, Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894, Brown makes you feel as though you are there with the people whose story he's telling. In this case, it's the ill-fated members of the wagon train led by George Donner through the Sierra Nevada in 1846, and particularly of Sarah Graves, a 21-yr-old newlywed who survived the horrible ordeal that later shocked the nation. A compulsive read."

--Maryjude Hoeffel
Bookseller


"Brown delivers a skillful, suspenseful study of the Donner party...a moving man-against-nature tragedy that still resonates today."

--Kirkus Reviews


"A compelling retelling of the ghastly events surrounding the Donner party. Daniel James Brown, using one survivor’s experience as his focus, moves beyond the cardboard figures depicted in previous accounts and shows how the lucky few endured and survived."

--Irvin Moltotksy, author of The Flag, The Poet, and the Song: The Story of the Star Spangled Banner.


"Riveting, moving, white-knuckle reading to rank with classic accounts of the 'perfect storm,' Krakatoa, and other storied calamities."

Welcome


Thanks for visiting my web site.

I'm happy to announce that the New York Times Book Review has selected my second book--THE INDIFFERENT STARS ABOVE--as an "Editor's PIck" for the week of May 10, 2009. And the American Association of Booksellers has selected it an "Indie Next Notable Pick."

The book is now available in both a Kindle edition and a large-print paperback edition in addition to the hardcover. To learn more about it, please click on "Indifferent Stars" above.

To learn about my first book, please click on "Under a Flaming Sky."

A Bit About Me


I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Diablo Valley College, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. I taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford University before becoming a Managing Editor at Microsoft.

I now live in the country east of Redmond, Washington with my wife, two daughters, and an assortment of cats, dogs, chickens, sheep, and honeybees. When I am not writing, I am likely to be birding, gardening, reading American history, reading Shakespeare, or chasing coyotes away from the sheep.

If you have comments or questions about my work please feel free to send me email.