Julian Tepper

Julian Tepper (born April 1, 1979) is an American writer and musician. His novels include Balls (2012), Ark (2016), and Between the Records (2020). He co-founded the Oracle Club, a literary salon in New York City that was open from 2011 until 2017, and was formerly a member of the indie rock band The Natural History. Early life Tepper was born in New York City and raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side. His father, Robert Tepper, is a musician best known for writing the 1980 ballad "Into the Night" and for writing and recording "No Easy Way Out", which appeared in the 1985 film Rocky IV. Career Novels Tepper's debut novel, Balls, was published in 2012. The book is a dark comedy about Henry Schiller, a 30-year-old piano player and neurotic Jew who lives in Manhattan with his younger, more musically gifted girlfriend Paula. When Henry discovers that he has testicular cancer, it prompts an existential crisis. The book has been praised for capturing the feel of New York City. Tepper started writing it in New Orleans and continued it in Finland, but stated that the book didn't start to take form until he returned to New York. Tepper has said Balls was influenced by Saul Bellow's 1964 novel Herzog, as well as the work of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka and Woody Allen.