ROBERT GIRARDI is the author of four previous novels and one volume of novellas, all of which have been widely translated. He has written for film and television. His nonfiction pieces and reviews have been published in The Washington Post, Washingtonian, The New Republic, The National Review and Landscape Architecture Magazine, among other publications. A graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop and USC Film School, Girardi has received a James Michener Fellowship. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his three children.