David Obst


David Obst is an American literary agent and author. Obst was the agent of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. He also was involved in the productions of the films Revenge of the Nerds, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and All the President's Men.

Life

Alex Kyczynski of The New York Times stated, "Obst says he was born in 1946, but he also says his mother was pregnant with him a month after D-Day, so we can't be sure how accurate a historian he is to begin with." Obst originated from Culver City, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley.
Around 1969 Obst went to Taiwan to study the Chinese language and later moved to Washington, DC where he became Seymour Hersh's literary agent. Obst had associated with Abbie Hoffman. In a review of Obst's book, Too Good to Be Forgotten, Hersh stated that Obst was "in the middle of" important political movements in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1977 Obst had about 50 clients. On February 1 of that year he was shifting into being a publisher. Obst stated that he had less success as a publisher compared to being an agent. He published Roadfood.

Author

In 1998 Obst wrote that Deep Throat was a composite person.

Personal

He married and later divorced Lynda Obst. As of 1998 he lived in Santa Barbara, California.

Publications