Si diplomò alla Stuyvesant High School a New York, si laureò in scienze politiche all'Oberlin College in Ohio e all'Hunter College della City University of New York, dove si guadagnò un MFA in scrittura creativa. ###>He is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Oberlin College in Ohio, where he earned a degree in politics, and Hunter College of the City University of New York, where he earned an MFA in Creative Writing.