Kurson began his career as a lawyer, graduating from Harvard Law School in 1990, and practicing real estate law. Kurson's professional writing career began at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he started as a sports agate clerk and soon gained a full-time features writing job. In 2000, Esquire published "My Favorite Teacher," his first magazine story, which became a finalist for a National Magazine Award. He moved from the Sun-Times to Chicago magazine, then to Esquire magazine, where he was a contributing editor. His stories have appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications.
''Shadow Divers''
In 2004, Random House published Kurson's book Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II. The book follows two New Jersey divers, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, as they spend six years leading an effort to identify a World War II German U-boat. The book chronicles the quest to learn the identity of the mysterious wreck, dubbed "U-Who" by the dive team, the identities of the men aboard her, and how she came to rest on the ocean floor near New Jersey. Shadow Divers spent 24 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list peaking at No. 2, and has been profiled by publications including CBS News, TIME Magazine, NPR, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and others. The book is often favorably compared to Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm and Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Shadow Divers was awarded the American Booksellers Association's 2005 "Book of the Year Award". The book was also awarded the American Library Association's Alex Award. The book was translated into 22 languages.
''Crashing Through''
Kurson wrote the nonfiction bookCrashing Through, which was published in 2007. Crashing Through recounts the story of Mike May, a prominent American entrepreneur and sports enthusiast, who regains his eyesight after a lifetime of blindness. Kurson based the book on his 2005 award-winning article "Into the Light" in Esquire. "Into the Light" won the 2006 National Magazine Award. The book debuted on The New York Times Bestseller list.
''Pirate Hunters''
In , published in 2015, Kurson tells the nonfiction story of two shipwreck divers, John Chatterton and John Mattera, on their search for the wreck of the 17th-century pirate shipGolden Fleece, which had been stolen by its captain Joseph Bannister and was later sunk by damage from a battle with two frigates of the Royal Navy. The book was a New York Times Bestseller.
''Rocket Men''
In 2018 Kurson released Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon. The book recounts the Apollo 8 mission, set against the backdrop of 1968, one of the most violent and divisive years in American history. The Washington Post wrote “Rocket Men is close-to-the-bone adventure-telling on a par with Alfred Lansing’s Endurance and Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. It’s as close to a movie as writing gets.” The book was a New York Times bestseller, was featured on The Today Show, and optioned for film and television.
