David Madden, currently director of the U.S. Civil War Center at Louisiana State University, has won high praise for his previous novels and short-story collections, which include The New Orleans of Possibilities, Pleasure Dome, On the Big Wind, The Suicide's Wife, Bijou, Cassandra Singing, and The Beautiful Greed. He has also written and edited numerous books of criticism and has taught creative writing at various colleges and universities. He is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee.