Gene Brewer was born on
July 4th,
1937 in
Muncie,
Indiana, where he lived until he was 18. He got his B. A. in
chemistry at
DePauw University, and a
Ph.D. in
biochemistry from
University of Wisconsin -
Madison, where he met his wife,
Karen. He then studied
DNA replication in several major
universities until becoming a novelist.
In
January of
1989,
Dr. Brewer began to write his first novel. As someone who cares about
animal rights and the
environment, he believed that the people
outside institutions are crazier than those inside,
wantonly destroying the only planet we have. So, inspired by
Oliver Sacks'
The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, he wrote a novel,
K-PAX, about prot, who thinks he is an
alien (or is an alien, it is never made clear in the
books), and thus has an outside perspective from the whole
system.
K-PAX wasn't published as soon as Dr. Brewer had finished it in
April of
1990; it was rejected by 48 different editors. In 1995 it was published, and in 2001 it was made into a movie starring
Kevin Spacey as prot, and
Jeff Bridges as Dr. Mark Powell (changed from Dr. Gene Brewer by the studio). The same year, the second book in the trilogy came out,
K-PAX II: On a Beam of Light. Most recently, the final book in the trilogy,
K-PAX III: The Worlds of Prot was released (August 4th, 2002
UK release.
He now lives in
New York and
Vermont with his wife,
Karen, and their dog,
Flower. He is currently working on a courtroom drama,
Wrongful Death, and has already submitted
Prot's Report to K-PAX to his publisher.
Novels:
K-PAX, 1995 (2001)
K-PAX II: On a Beam Of Light, 2001 (2002)
K-PAX III: The Worlds of Prot, 2002
Prot's Report to K-PAX(forthcoming)
Wrongful Death (forthcoming)
Sources:
Gene Brewer (http://www.genebrewer.com)