JIM SHEPARD has written several novels, including The Book of Aron, which won the Sophie Brody Medal, the PEN/New England Award, The Ribalow Prize, and the Clark Fiction Prize, as well as six story collections, including Like You'd Understand, Anyway, a finalist for the National Book Award and Story Prize winner. Many of his stories have been selected for the Best American Short Stories, the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and Pushcart Prizes. He's received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Williamstown with his wife, Karen Shepard, and two beagles, and previously taught at Williams College.