Blown

Haskell Smith has been compared to Carl Hiaasen for his social commentary spliced with outrageous laughs, James Ellroy for his gritty crime twists, and David Sedaris for his smart insight and humor

Smith got his start as a successful screenwriter and is the author of five critically acclaimed comic novels (most recently, Raw: A Love Story) and two nonfiction works of participatory journalism. He’s also written award-winning screenplays and some television shows

An extremely imaginative satirist, Mark blends both high and pop culture using his trademark frank humor, renegade oddball characters, intelligence, and wildly comic plotting

A feature film of Smith’s Salty—starring Antonio Banderas and directed by Simon West (Con Air, The Expendables)—was released this September, and Moist, based on Smith’s own screenplay, is in development by producer/director Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty, Men in Black)

In previous novels, Smith has taken on the world of reality TV, the illegal marijuana trade, and the Hollywood industry, now he sharpens his pen on Wall Street’s trading floor. A raucous adventure from testosterone-filled boardrooms to the high seas of offshore banking, BLOWN is a sharp-eyed, cutting, and hilarious commentary on the hawkish, capitalistic world of the global financial market

There’s murder, crime, and absurd twists, but the story also takes an existential dive into following your bliss over staying in the rat race

Smith’s writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Independent, Salon, Vulture, Slate, Howler, and Literary Hub. He is an assistant professor in the MFA program for Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California Riverside, Palm Desert Graduate Center