James Greer

James Greer is an American novelist, screenwriter, musician, and critic, born in 1971. He lives in Los Angeles.

Greer was Senior Editor and Senior Writer at Spin magazine in NYC in the early 90s. He then moved to Dayton, Ohio, where in 1994 he joined the influential Indie rock band Guided By Voices, contributing bass guitar and vocals to the albums Alien Lanes (Matador, 1995) and Under the Bushes Under the Stars (Matador, 1996) and touring extensively across the U.S. and in Europe. Greer wrote and recorded the song "Trendspotter Acrobat" for the Guided By Voices EP Sunfish Holy Breakfast, released by Matador Records on November 19, 1996.

He was engaged to Kim Deal of the Pixies/Breeders from 1991 until their break-up in 1996.

Greer started a new band in 2012 with French musician Lola G. called DTCV. In April 2016 the band released its fourth studio album, Confusion Moderne, on Xemu Records. Later that year Steven Soderbergh directed his first music video for the band's song "Histoire seule" and the band continued to record and tour prolifically.

A new single is due on Slimer Records to celebrate their European tour.

Greer has published three novels: Artificial Light (Little House on the Bowery/Akashic, 2006), The Failure (Akashic, 2010), and Bad Eminence (And Other Stories, 2022). 

Artificial Light won a California Book Award Silver Medal for First Fiction. Noted American novelist Dennis Cooper has written about Greer's The Failure that "James Greer, one of the nimblest and most multilayered American fiction writers, has, with his latest novel The Failure, pulled off a sublime and shivery-smooth literary hat-trick-cum-emotional-gotcha. I defy anyone to come up with an equation to explain how this book's first impression as a ridiculously clever, funny crime story can gradually disclose a metanovel built from far more encyclopedic scratch only to reveal upon its conclusion a central, overriding thought so heartfelt literally it trembles your lower lip. This is one stunning piece of work."

Andrew Gallix in The Irish Times called Bad Eminence "this year's cult classic," writing that the novel was "hilarious, exhilarating and mind-blowing".

Greer also wrote a biography of Guided By Voices, Guided By Voices: A Brief History (Black Cat/Grove Press, 2005).

In 2013 Greer released his first book of short fiction, titled Everything Flows, via Curbside Splendor. Publisher Weekly said of the book"Halfway between the mind of God and a vivid dream, Everything Flows is proof that there remain new places to go, both on paper and in the known universe."

Greer has written or co-written several movies, including Max Keeble's Big Move (Disney, 2001), Just My Luck (20th Century Fox, 2006) starring Lindsay Lohan, the Jackie Chan vehicle The Spy Next Door (Lion's Gate, 2010) and Cleo (2012), a rock musical directed by Steven Soderbergh starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In March 2013, Steven Soderbergh announced he was working on a 12-hour version of John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor. The book was adapted for Soderbergh by Greer.