Caleb Carr

Early years and education

Carr was born on August 2, 1955, in Manhattan, one of three sons born to Beat Generation figure Lucien Carr and Francesca von Hartz. Lucien's close circle of friends included William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, whom Lucien had known since his college days. Their frequent presence in the Carr household affected Carr's future career: "They were noisy drunks that were a disruption. They made me determined never to be a fiction writer". This reaffirmed an earlier sentiment in a 1997 interview, where he stated that, as a child, "If you had told me I would be an artist or novelist when I grew up, I would have laughed in your face".

Carr received his primary education from St. Luke's School in Greenwich Village and his secondary education from Friends Seminary, also in downtown New York City. Carr's interest in military history did not help him fit in at Friends Seminary, a Quaker school. He was an excellent student, but he was guilty of pranks like setting off cherry bombs in the school lavatories. When he discovered that his school transcript was marked "Socially Undesirable", he was "stunned". "We had guys in our school who dealt opium and cocaine out of their lockers, and the teacher would take them aside and have conversations". The designation was enough to keep him out of Harvard. He attended Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio, from 1973 to 1975 and returned to New York City in 1975 to complete his education at New York University, where, in 1977, he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in military and diplomatic history.

Much of Carr's fiction deals with violence perpetrated by people whose behavior has its origins in childhood abuse. His father, whose famously turbulent childhood ended in a conviction for manslaughter, inflicted physical and emotional abuse upon his wife and children. Caleb remembered being singled out for his father's beatings: "He was enormously threatened by me, from the time I was a child—threatened by my tendency to speak what I perceived. Alcoholics don't tend to like children like that." The physical and verbal abuse fueled by alcohol and rage didn't stop even after Caleb's parents divorced when he was eight. Carr did not learn about his father's crime until he was 18. He recalls being shocked, "but not exactly surprised".

The frequent presence of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs in the Carr home was a "little unnerving". "They could be perfectly nice people one-to-one", Carr told Salon in a 1997 interview. "Kerouac was a very nice man. Allen could be a very nice guy. Burroughs was a little strange for a child. But they weren't children people. You needed to be grown up to be around them if you wanted to not be terrified. What they were up to was not gonna make any child reassured."

Career

Early career

Carr first went to work for the Council on Foreign Relations after high school as a library assistant, and rose during his college year summers (and a semester off) to research assistant. He also wrote freelance articles on global issues. During this period, he published his first nationally noticed broadside: a long indictment, published on the letters page of The New York Times, of Henry Kissinger's foreign policy. This assisted noted historian and expert on U.S. foreign policy James Chace in helping Carr, after he left New York University, to get a job as a researcher and editorial assistant for the Foreign Affairs Quarterly, where Chace was managing editor.

In 1980, Carr left Foreign Affairs to fine-tune and publish his first novel, Casing the Promised Land, a coming of age story about three young men in New York City. It was dedicated to "Everyone who fed me and to: James Chace". Nearly 20 years after Casing the Promised Land was published, the extreme prices that book dealers were offering for the volume forced Carr to post this "self-criticism" on the book's Amazon.com page: "I am the author of this book. It has a few good scenes, but is essentially 'roman à clef' nonsense that every writer has to get out of his system early on. Do yourself a favor and read anything else I've written (you'll be doing me a favor, too). Forgive the follies of youth" (emphasis in the original).

James Chace brought Carr on to organize and edit his acclaimed book, Endless War, dealing with the crisis in Central America, which Carr then covered as a freelance journalist for the Berkshire Eagle and The New York Times. In 1988 Carr and Chace co-authored America Invulnerable: The Quest for Absolute Security from 1812 to Star Wars, an unprecedented and highly acclaimed study of United States of America's traditional and unequivocal approach to national security, beginning with the nation's founders. From the book: "For more than two centuries, the United States has aspired to a condition of perfect safety from foreign threats. Alarmed by even potential dangers to the nation's security, Americans have forcefully responded to both real and imagined assaults against our own borders as well as against those of foreign nations and provinces whose security we have seen as either strategically or politically linked to our own ... Yet the goal of absolute security has constantly eluded us."

In 1989 he became a contributing editor to MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, a position he still held in 1994.

1990s

Carr returned to New York to begin researching and writing what would prove his breakthrough novel, The Alienist, published in 1994. The book became an international bestseller and has been translated into more than 24 languages. Winner of the 1995 Anthony Award for best first novel (although technically it was his second), the book, set in 1896 New York City follows the exploits of a small band of individuals determined to catch a serial killer. The book was also nominated for the 1995 Bram Stoker award.

Carr's lifelong interest in violence, which initially fed his study of military history, expanded into a study of serial killers with the advent of the Son of Sam murders of 1976–1977. (Once again, this was not a mere fascination with brutality, but with the underlying causes of violence and with people—especially military leaders—who seek to limit killing.) Later, as The Alienist began taking shape in his imagination, Carr immersed himself in the history of the New York City neighborhoods in which he had grown up and biographies of its notable figures of the Nineteenth century. He also sought the counsel, during a series of meetings, with Dr. David Abrahamsen, the psychiatrist who examined David Berkowitz after his capture and "unraveled the mind" of the Son of Sam killer. Carr sold the movie rights for The Alienist to Paramount based on an early draft of the book.

Returning to Hollywood, Carr wrote the pilot for a dystopian vision of the far future, The Osiris Chronicles, for Paramount Television. After a vigorous auction, sale of the broadcast rights went to CBS. Once again, however, the execution of the production was deeply disappointing to Carr, and the show was not picked up. Consulted by Paramount TV as to what could be done to salvage the pilot, Carr told Paramount that, if left to work on his own with the assistant editor, he could produce a new cut of the show for a television movie that would at least be moderately successful, especially abroad. Paramount agreed, and the movie, titled The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy (1998), did indeed prove a modest success, particularly in foreign markets.

At the same time, he appeared on the History Channel's Jack the Ripper: Phantom of Death (1995) as an expert commentator; additionally he was a guest commentator on PBS's American Experience: New York Underground. He was also a featured commentator in Ric Burns' 1999 documentary New York: A Documentary History. Back in Los Angeles, he performed a page-one rewrite of William Wisher Jr.'s script for a prequel to The Exorcist for Morgan Creek Productions, resulting in a screenplay that attracted the legendary John Frankenheimer to direct, Liam Neeson to star, and the famed cinematographer Vittorio Storaro to shoot. But when Frankenheimer suddenly died and was replaced by Paul Schrader, who insisted on his own version of the script, Neeson abandoned the project and Carr, deeply disillusioned, returned to New York for the last time. He was given partial story credit for the two films eventually produced from the script, Exorcist: The Beginning and Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, although, in a subsequent interview with the LA Weekly, Carr emphasized that the movies bore little to no relation to his story.

Later career

In 2000, Carr published his next novel, Killing Time, another dystopian tale of the future, this time the near future: 2023. First serialized in Time magazine in 1999. The book finds a world with an abundance of information too easily manipulated, thus frequently obscuring reality. The characters travel from New York to the jungles of Africa in their quest to use such manipulation for the benefit of mankind, only to find themselves enmeshed in the central tragic paradox of their efforts, summed up best in a line from the book that is now a commonplace: "Information is not knowledge". Although some agreed with USA Today that Killing Time was "a techno-terrifying tale of the information age run amok" and "a daring departure from the successful Alienist formula, but Carr is still a master of the cliffhanger, serving up a non-stop thrill ride as the story builds to a surprising finish", many found its stark view of information manipulation and its consequences too pessimistic, and the book was only briefly a New York Times bestseller.

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, which were along the lines that Carr had warned of in his writings on terrorism, he returned to the subject, using his "Terrorism as Warfare" piece as the basis for his best-selling, highly acclaimed but controversial book, The Lessons of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians. Published in 2002, this study of the history of terrorism from ancient Rome to the present was among the first to provide a precise definition of terrorism, one that has endured and made the book a landmark book in the field: Once again, reviews were extreme but mixed: some did not share the opinion of the Christian Science Monitor, which foretold correctly that, "After the deadly attacks against the United States, many Americans may now find Carr's earlier arguments prescient and his approach the only one that has a chance of working;" instead, many critics agreed with Newsweek's opinion that, "The Lessons of Terror is so earnest, so well informed and so outrageous ... that almost any reader will find something to love and something that will make you want to throw the book across the room. It is, in short, pure Carr." But the work achieved the influence among military historians, one of the most eminent of whom, John Lynn, subsequently declared, in his own ensuing volume, Battle: a History of Combat and Culture, that Carr's "insistence that Terrorism [sic] can be traced back to the ancient world and that great armies and great states have engaged in attacks on civilians designed to intimidate and terrorize them is important in both obvious and subtle ways", as well as among terrorism experts, and the military and defense communities that Carr had sought; and it formed the basis of his deeper involvement in an advisory capacity for members of the government. Shortly after its publication, he testified before the House Subcommittee on National Security, met privately with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to discuss the future of the war on terrorism, and served as a guest speaker on every major network and many cable news outlets during the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Carr was scheduled to appear on February 6, 2002, at the Council on Foreign Relations to discuss his book, The Lessons of Terror. On February 4, 2002, the appearance was cancelled. Various reasons for the halting of the engagement were put forth in the media. One council member was told there was a scheduling conflict; others alleged not enough members signed up; yet Carr believed the real reason was due to his criticisms of Henry Kissinger, who was a member of the council.

Other work

While Carr's early years at home were fraught with chaos and abuse, author James Chace, a childhood friend, stated the house was also "full of learning ... The thing is, most people tend to be narrow. But all the Carrs know music incredibly well, history, literature—they're extraordinarily remarkable." In the 1980s Carr pursued his career as a scholar and journalist; he spent his nights working in the theater directing both repertory works as well as productions of his own plays. Additionally, he played guitar in a band called Hell and High Water.

The late 1990s found Carr expanding his literary repertoire while working as librettist for the opera Merlin, a reinterpretation of the Arthurian legends, with his friend and composer, Ezequiel Vinao. A staged recital of the first scene was performed with a full orchestra at the Paris Opera House in 1999. The work is unfinished.

Personal life and death

Carr lived most of his life on Manhattan's Lower East Side, spending his summers and many weekends at his family's home in Cherry Plain, New York. In 2000, he bought his own property, known as Misery Mountain, in Cherry Plain; and in 2006 he moved there permanently. He shared his home with his Siberian rescue cat, Masha, for 17 years. Masha died in April 2022. Caleb Carr revealed he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2024. He died at his home in Cherry Plain on May 23, at the age of 68.

Publications

Books

Kreizler series

The Alienist (1994) (won 1995 Anthony Award for Best First Novel)

The Angel of Darkness (1997) ISBN 0-7515-2275-9

Surrender, New York (2016)

Other novels

Casing the Promised Land (1980) ISBN 978-0060107079

Killing Time (2000)

The Italian Secretary (2005); an authorized Sherlock Holmes mystery

The Legend of Broken (2012) ISBN 978-0812984521

Nonfiction

America Invulnerable: The Quest for Absolute Security from 1912 to Star Wars (co-written with James Chace) (1989) ISBN 0-671-61778-8

The Devil Soldier: The American Soldier of Fortune Who Became a God in China (1992) ISBN 978-0679761280

The Lessons of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians: Why It Has Always Failed and Why It Will Fail Again (2002) ISBN 9780375760747

Memoir

My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me (2024)

Anthologies

Carr, Caleb (2006). "'Some Analytical Genius, No Doubt'". In Greenberg, MH; Lellenberg, JL; Stashower, D (eds.). The Ghosts in Baker Street: New Tales of Sherlock Holmes. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-1400-X.

Chace, James; Carr, Caleb (2006). "The United States, the U.N., and Korea". In Robert Cowley (ed.). The Cold War: A Military History. Random House Publishing. ISBN 0-8129-6716-X.

Carr, Caleb (2003). "William Pitt the Elder and the Avoidance of the American Revolution". In Robert Cowley (ed.). What Ifs? of American History, Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. Penguin. ISBN 0-425-19818-9.

Carr, Caleb (2001). "Poland 1939". In Robert Cowley (ed.). No End Save Victory: Perspectives on World War II. Penguin Publishing. ISBN 0-425-18338-6.

Carr, Caleb (2001). "VE Day--November 11, 1944 The Unleashing of Patton and Montgomery". In Robert Cowley (ed.). What If? 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. ISBN 0-425-18613-X.

Carr, Caleb (1999). "Napoleon Wins at Waterloo". In Robert Cowley (ed.). What If?: The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. National Geographic Books. ISBN 0-425-17642-8.

Columns

2003 New York Observer. Historical Context M.I.A.: Blame the Commander in Chief [1]

2003 New York Observer. On Beholding Baghdad [2]

2003 New York Observer. Handicapping Military Is Order of the Day; Maureen Is Feasting [3]

2003 New York Observer. The Ferocious Spectacle in Baghdad [4]

2003 New York Observer. Fear Subsuming Offensive Goals of War on Iraq [5]

2003 New York Observer. Strategic Bombing Brings Ups Quandary of Military Ethics [6]

2003 New York Observer. Trouble in Turkey, Al Qaeda Capture Intensify the Heat [7]

2003 New York Observer. Bush's Conflict: Military Methods At War For Iraq [8]

Opinion pieces

Carr, Caleb (1974). "Letters to the Editor: Kissinger's 19th-Century Diplomacy" (PDF). The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (April 13, 1986). "About Men; An Incident of Wolves". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (December 26, 1987). "Security Precedes Credibility". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (September 16, 1993). "The Humanitarian Illusion". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (July 25, 1997). "Myths and Criminal Masterminds". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (December 18, 1997). "Myths and Criminal Masterminds: The Ramsey Case Revisited". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (1999). "When Considering Ground Troops in Kosovo, Remember Sherman". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 421427282.

Carr, Caleb (August 1, 2001). "Information Poisoning". Salon.

Carr, Caleb (August 7, 2001). "The Myth of a Perfect Defense". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (September 23, 2001). "Americans Don't Understand Their Heritage Is Itself a Threat". The New York Times Magazine.

Carr, Caleb (December 21, 2001). "The Art of Knowing the Enemy". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (July 27, 2002). "Costs of Targeting Civilians". The New York Times.

Carr, Caleb (2005). "Wrong Definition For a War". The Washington Post.

Journal publications

2007 "Terrorism": Why the Definition Must be Broad, World Policy Journal, Vol. 24, No.4, (Spring, 2007), pp. 47–50 [9]

1996/1997 Terrorism as Warfare: The Lessons of Military History, World Policy Journal, Vol.13, No.4, (Winter, 1996/1997), pp. 1–12 [10]

1995: Internationalism in the Age of Factionalism, World Policy Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2, (Summer, 1995), pp. 67–70 [11]

1994: The Dark Knight, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vol. 6, No. 3, (Spring, 1994), [12]

1994: Aldrich Ames and the Conduct of American Intelligence, World Policy Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Fall, 1994), pp. 19–28 [13]

1993: The Consequences of Somalia, World Policy Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Fall, 1993), pp. 1–4 [14]

1992: The American Rommel, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vol. 4, No. 4, (Summer, 1992) [15]

1990: The Troubled Genius of Oliver Cromwell, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vol. 2, No. 4, (Summer, 1990) [16]

1989: The Man of Silence, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vol. 2, No. 4, (Spring, 1989) [17]

Reviews

Carr, Caleb (2002) The New York Times. Dealing With the Work of a Fiend [18]

Carr, Caleb (2000) The New York Times. Nor Any Drop to Drink [19]

Carr, Caleb (1993) The New York Times. James the Ripper? [20]

Carr, Caleb (1992) The New York Times. Should War Be Left to The Generals? [21]

Carr, Caleb (1992) The New York Times. Minnesota Death Trip [22]

Other

2002 Combating Terrorism: Axis of Evil, Multilateral Containment or Unilateral Confrontation, House Hearing, 107 Congress. (April 16, 2002) [23]