pen name of the American novelist Albert W. DuAime, best known for his innovative first novel, Birdy (1979; filmed 1984), a critical and popular success. he wrote eight novels, including Birdy, 'Dad', 'A Midnight Clear', 'Scumbler', Pride, 'Tidings', 'Franky Furbo', and 'Last Lovers' and two memoirs, 'Ever After' and 'Houseboat on the Seine'.wharton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1925. during the second worlD war, he served in a US Army Specialized Training Program for soldiers with genius IQ's. during the war he was also treated in an Army psychiatric hospital. Trained as a painter at the University of California, Los Angeles, wharton worked as an artist for almost 25 years before Birdy's publication. It's reported that he now lives on a houseboat in france and is still painting.

Wharton wrote under a pseudonym to protect his privacy and has succeeded quite well in achieving this aim. little is known about his personal history and private life (if you know more about wharton, please mail us).