David Kushner (writer)
American writer
David Kushner is an American writer who has contributed to many publications, including Wired, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, IEEE Spectrum and Salon.
Career
From 1994 to 1996, Kushner worked as a senior producer and writer on the SonicNet website.
Works
The first edition of Kushner’s non-fiction book, Masters of Doom, was published in 2003. His second non-fiction book, Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids, was published in 2005. Kushner's book, Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America's Legendary Suburb, was published in 2009.
Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto
In 2012, his narrative non-fiction book Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto was published. Jacked provided an inside look at the inner-workings of the video game company Rockstar Games, makers of the controversial Grand Theft Auto series, and attorney Jack Thompson's attempt to destroy it. The book served as the basis for the film The Gamechangers.
Alligator Candy
Kushner's 2016 autobiography, Alligator Candy, describes the abduction and murder of his preteen brother, Jonathan Kushner. One of the individuals convicted for murder, Johnny Paul Witt, was executed in 1985 by the State of Florida after a lengthy appeal (see Wainwright v.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “David Kushner (writer)” as american writer. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american writer. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5236162. VIAF identifies the subject as 98519418. The Library of Congress control number is n00077738. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1994, 1996, 2003 and 2005.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “David Kushner (writer)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow David Kushner (writer) primary sources, David Kushner (writer) archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Kushner (writer)”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “David Kushner (writer)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.