Matt Baglio

MATT BAGLIO is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, which was published by Doubleday in 2009. The book has been translated into over eighteen languages, and adapted into a feature film in 2010, starring Anthony Hopkins. Baglio also served as a technical consultant on the film, which grossed nearly $100 million worldwide.

A tenacious researcher, Baglio strives to inhabit the worlds he documents in his books. In the process of working on The Rite, he interviewed close to 20 exorcists and sat in on more than 30 official Catholic exorcisms, one of only a handful of outsiders ever to do so.

Baglio's interests are varied and over the years he has worked as an editor and contributor for a variety of magazines and news organizations including COLORS and the Associated Press. His newest book, ARGO: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled off the Most Audacious Rescue in History—co-written with retired CIA officer Antonio Mendez—will be released by Viking in September 2012. ARGO details the true story behind the previously classified operation to rescue six escaped Americans from revolutionary Iran in 1980. The ARGO operation is also the basis for a major motion picture starring and directed by Ben Affleck, in theaters in October 2012.

Currently Baglio is at work on a variety of projects, including a novel, as well as a graphic novel that is being illustrated by an artist who has worked for Marvel and DC.

Born and raised in southern California, Baglio divides his time between California and Italy.