Percy Marks

Born in California in 1891, Percy Marks became an American novelist and English instructor whose name is most closely linked with The Plastic Age (1924). The book, set against college life, became a bestseller and attracted attention for its frank treatment of student behavior at a time when that felt daring.

Marks studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and later taught English at the college level. Beyond his most famous novel, he wrote many other books, including fiction and writing-related work, building a career that drew heavily on academic settings and the pressures of growing up.

He died in 1956. Even now, he is often remembered as a writer who captured a particular moment in American campus culture while also speaking to broader themes of identity, social expectation, and change.