Jack Houghteling

Jack Houghteling is an American novelist and the author of Goodman, Sunnyside (2023) and The Forest (2026). His work is known for its emphasis on form, voice and language. Writer Harold Rogers called Houghteling "one of the best living prose stylists." At the latter, he delivered the student commencement speech at graduation. He later earned a graduate degree from the London School of Economics in 2015 before moving to New York City.

Works Houghteling began Goodman in 2015 but then put it aside for years.

Sunnyside is about an ex-football player from Westchester County and received acclaim. The podcast The Drunken Odyssey called it a "maximalist masterpiece," describing its style as "neomodernist." which it characterized as "sui generis” and “unlike almost any other contemporary fiction."

The Forest, Houghteling's third full-length work, was published in March 2026.

Personal life In 2018, Houghteling ran for the New York State Senate as a Democrat in Brooklyn's District 18, but never made it to the primary election ballot.

He lives in Upper Manhattan with his wife. They have two children.