November 20, 1936 -
American novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist
Author of "White Noise" (for which he won the National Book Award in 1985), "Libra", "Mao II" (for which he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992) and "Underworld" (for which he was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize For Fiction in 1998 and won the American Book Award in 1998)
Was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 66th National Book Awards Ceremony in 2015