About the Author

David Lazar is the director of the nonfiction writing program at Columbia College Chicago, a professor in the Department of English, and the editor of Hotel Amerika. He is the author of The Body of Brooklyn (IOWA, 2003), Michael Powell: Interviews, Conversations with M. F. K. Fisher, and a book of prose poems, Powder Town. Four of his essays have been named Notable Essays of the Year by Best American Essays.

Reviews

At last, as engrossing and intellectually sophisticated and varied a discussion of these sticky topical issues as one could ever hope to find. What makes the book even better is that so many of these pieces are stunning essays in their own right. - Phillip Lopate, author, Getting Personal: Selected Writings