The son of Robert Treuer, an Austrian Jew and holocaust survivor and Margaret Seelye Treuer, a tribal court judge, David Treuer grew up on Leech Lake Reservation. After graduating from high school he attended Princeton University where he wrote two senior theses --- one in anthropology and one in creative writing --- and where he worked with Toni Morrison, Paul Muldoon and Joanna Scott.

Treuer graduated in 1992 and published his first novel, LITTLE, in 1995. He received his PhD in anthropology and published his second novel, THE HIAWATHA, in 1999. His third novel, THE TRANSLATION OF DR APELLES, and a book of criticism, NATIVE AMERICAN FICTION: A User's Manual, appeared in 2006. THE TRANSLATION OF DR APELLES was named a Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post, Time Out and City Pages. He published his first major work of nonfiction, REZ LIFE, in 2012. His next novel, PRUDENCE, is forthcoming from Riverhead Books. His essays and stories have appeared in Esquire, TriQuarterly, The Washington Post, Lucky Peach, The New York Times, The LA Times and Slate.com.