Julian Rubinstein

Julian Rubinstein is an award-winning journalist, author and producer. His new non-fiction book, The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun and the Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in May 2021. According to the Los Angeles Review of Books, “Rubinstein… illuminates the dynamics that help explain the Black rage that has spilled into American streets over the past two years… It’s an important read.” Writing in Shondaland Scott Neumeyer wrote, “The Holly is a triumphant achievement that fully brings the iceberg of criminal justice issues to the surface and exposes it for all to see. Not only is it one of the most important nonfiction books to be published in recent years, but it should be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the extent to which this country’s criminal justice system is currently broken.”

The book received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, which called it “a shattering piece of investigative journalism about street gangs, race relations and law enforcement.” See the Reviews section for more.

Julian’s first non-fiction book, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, was called “an instant classic” by Canada’s Globe and Mail. The book was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime Book and was a New York Times “Editors’ Choice.” His longform magazine work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Travel + Leisure and others. His journalism has been cited and collected in numerous anthologies, including Best American Essays, Best American Crime Writing, Best American Science and Nature Writing and twice in Best American Sports Writing. He lives in Denver, and is currently a Visiting Professor of the Practice of Documentary Journalism at the University of Denver.