Born in Arizona shortly after his mother attended the world premiere of Psycho, Bentley Little attended California State University at Fullerton, where he earned a B.A. in communications and an M.A. in English and comparative literature. He has worked as a technical writer, reporter/photographer, library assistant, sales clerk, phonebook deliveryman, video arcade attendant, newspaper deliveryman, furniture mover, window washer, and rodeo gatekeeper. The son of a Russian artist and an American educator, he and his Chinese wife were married by the justice of the peace in Tombstone, Arizona. They have one son.