Peter Hedges grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa. However, he spent a lot of time in small towns like the fictional Endora, Iowa, while visiting his grandparents and other family members. Hedges says that he was fascinated by the water towers that often towered over these places, as well as by their abandoned farmhouses and small school buildings. Many of his childhood experiences and those of his family members in these places inspired aspects of the novel. For example, the author's baby brother once participated in Arnie’s habit of chopping off grasshoppers' heads with the mailbox flag.

Hedges takes pride in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape's status as a cult classic. He shares stories from fans who tell him the book changed their outlook on life, including a young man who said that reading it helped him as a 17-year-old and led to his becoming a medical student. Hedges is also proud that Anna Quindlen mentions What’s Eating Gilbert Grape in How Reading Changed My Life (Library of Contemporary Thought). She places What’s Eating Gilbert Grape alongside other critically-acclaimed coming-of-age narratives, such as The Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace.

Since the publication of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Hedges has written plays, films, and other novels, including An Ocean in Iowa, which also takes place in Endora.