Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

The cult writer Stephen Elliott is a man who can't sit still. He's a political organizer, editor, director and the author of seven books in the past 14 years. Much of his writing has focused on his troubled past — his mother's death when he was young, his angry father, his bouts with drug abuse and loneliness and his sadomasochistic urges. Elliott is now trying to make the leap to Hollywood with the release of his first feature-length film.

This profile looks at the man, haunted by his childhood, who recently turned 40 and struggles to move on.

A version of this profile was published by The Atlantic.