Lawrence Thornton (born 1937) is an American novelist[1] and critic living in Claremont, California.
His most well known novel, Imagining Argentina, employs the methods of magic realism to tell a story of the Dirty War (1976-1983).
In 2003 a film was made of Imagining Argentina by Christopher Hampton starring Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson and Claire Bloom.
In addition to writing six novels, he is the author of a non-fiction study of modern fiction, Unbodied Hope, as well as scholarly articles in PMLA, Comparative Literature, American Literature, Modern Fiction Studies and other learned journals.
After graduating from high school, Thornton attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, earning a B.A.