Max Watman, who was raised in a cabin in the Shenandoah Valley, was likely the first Jewish person his schoolmates in rural Virginia had ever met, and he was often ridiculed, disallowed from birthday parties, asked about his tail, and had his hair tousled to check for horns. He completed his undergraduate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, after which he moved to New York City to attend the writing program at Columbia University, where he earned his MFA in 2001. Watman has worked as a farmer, a silversmith, a tutor, a greenskeeper, a warehouseman, a cook, a musician, and a writer.