Lisa Taddeo

Lisa Taddeo is an American author and journalist known for her book Three Women. Taddeo's work has appeared in The Best American Political Writing and The Best American Sports Writing anthologies.

Early life

Taddeo was raised in the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey, where she attended Millburn High School, graduating in 1998. Her parents are Peter Taddeo, an Italian American doctor, and Pia, a fruit stand cashier from Italy.

Education

She first attended New York University but transferred to Rutgers University. Taddeo completed her Master of Fine Arts in fiction at Boston University.

Writing

Early career

Taddeo was an associate editor at Golf Magazine when David Granger assigned her first piece for Esquire, titled "The Last Days of Heath Ledger", after reading her unpublished manuscript. She later appeared in Esquire Network's 80th Anniversary special in 2013.

The Washington Post recognized her New York piece, "Rachel Uchitel is Not a Madam", as one of their top five long reads that stand the test of time.

Taddeo has since received the William Holodnok Fiction Prize and the Florence Engel Randall Award in fiction.

She is a two-time recipient of the Pushcart Prize, recognized for her short stories "42 (2017)", published in the New England Review, and "Suburban Weekend (2019)", published in Granta.

Later work

Her book Three Women was released in July 2019 by Simon and Schuster. In June 2020, it won the Narrative Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.

Taddeo's debut novel, Animal, was published by Avid Reader Press in the summer of 2021 and explores themes of "both sisterhood and female rage..."

Her third book, Ghost Lover, is a collection of nine short stories published in 2022 by Avid Reader Press.

Adaptions

In July 2019, Showtime announced a series commitment adaptation of Three Women. Taddeo will write and be executive producer of the series. It premiered on Starz in 2024.