Michael Without Apology

Catherine Ryan Hyde is an American author. She has published roughly 50 novels, many of which have been New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts bestsellers. She began her literary career writing short stories. Such titles have appeared in an array of literary magazines including Glimmer Train, Ploughshares, the Antioch Review, the Virginia Quarterly Review, and the Michigan Quarterly Review. Some of her stories “have been nominated for The Best American Short Stories,” the Pushcart Prize, and the O. Henry Award (282).

Hyde’s first published novel was Funeral for Horses in 1997, followed by Earthquake Weather (1998), a short story anthology. She is best known for her subsequent novel Pay It Forward, which established her reputation in the literary world. Originally published by Pocket Books in 1999, Pay It Forward features a car accident that was inspired by true events from Hyde’s life. The novel was adapted into a film by Warner Brothers in 2000. Hyde later republished a youth edition of the same story in 2014 under the same title. According to Hyde’s author biography in the source text, this version of the book was “chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) for its Best Books for Young Adults list” and has been “translated into more than twenty-three languages for distribution in over thirty countries” (281).

Hyde is a self-described author of literary fiction. The majority of her titles feature unlikely, overlooked characters who are working through personal trauma, tragedy, or abuse. Many of her titles have gone on to win literary awards and honors. Becoming Chloe (2006) and Jumpstart the World (2010) “were included on the ALA’s Rainbook Book List” (281). Jumpstart was a Lambda Literary Awards finalist. Where We Belong (2013) won two 2013 Rainbow Awards, and The Language of Hoofbeats (2014) won one 2015 Rainbow Award. Hyde’s other titles include The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance (2007), Chasing Windmills (2008), The Day I Killed James (2008), Diary of a Witness (2009), A Different Kind of Gone (2023), Life, Loss, and Puffins (2024), and many others.

Outside of her writing life, Hyde has a deep love for animals. On her author website, she features photos and stories about her dogs, cats, and horses. She is also an avid traveler and a skilled hiker. She has trekked everywhere “from Yosemite Valley to the top of Cloud’s Rest […] [to] the lower Himalayas of Nepal” (“About Me.” Catherine Ryan Hyde). Her outdoor adventures have also inspired her passion for astrophotography, and she “photograph[s] distant galaxies and nebulae” (“About Me”). She includes links to online galleries of this work on her website, too.

Hyde’s dozens of novels and fiction publications are in conversation with other contemporary authors of literary fiction. Her work possesses thematic and narrative overlaps with novels like William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace and Kristin Hannah’s The Things We Do For Love.