Dennis Cooper (born January 10, 1953) is an American novelist, poet, critic, editor and performance artist. He is best known for the George Miles Cycle, a series of five semi-autobiographical novels published between 1989 and 2000 and described by Tony O'Neill "as intense a dissection of human relationships and obsession that modern literature has ever attempted." Cooper is the founder and editor of Little Caesar Magazine, a punk zine, that ran between 1976 and 1982. Early life Cooper was born in Pasadena, California and raised in Arcadia, the son of Clifford Cooper, a self-made businessman who was one of the early designers of parts for unmanned space expeditions. His parents were politically conservative, with his father acting as an advisor to several presidents, including Richard Nixon, with whom he cultivated a close friendship. One of his brothers, Richard, was named after Nixon. Cooper's parents divorced when he was in his early teens. Cooper attended public schools before he started attending Flintridge Preparatory School in high school; he was expelled in 11th grade. He attended Pasadena City College and Pitzer College. Cooper began reading French literature at 15 and was drawn to Marquis de Sade in particular for his risqué depictions of libertine sex. He was also inspired by French novelists/directors such as Jean Cocteau, Alain Robbe-Grillet, and Marguerite Duras. Though he had started writing surreal stories at age 12, he became a more focused writer at 15 and tried to imitate the writing styles of Arthur Rimbaud and de Sade. He began planning out a five-book series that would later become The George Miles Cycle. Punk subculture was a major part of his twenties. In 1976, Cooper moved to London for a brief period. Career Cooper started Little Caesar Magazine in 1976; the punk zine, which ran for 12 issues between 1976 and 1982, featured multimedia contributions from Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz, Debbie Harry, Bob Flanagan, and Toby Ross. In 1978, he started Little Caesar Press, which would go on to help establish artists such as Amy Gerstler, Peter Schjeldahl, and Elaine Equi. Cooper published his first book of poetry, Idols, in 1979 and his second, Tenderness of the Wolves, in 1981. Tenderness of Wolves was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize the same year. In 1979, he began working as the Director of Programming at the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, where he continued to produce Little