Elizabeth Crane is the author of two previous story collections, When the Messenger is Hot (Little, Brown, 2003) and All This Heavenly Glory (Little, Brown, 2005). Her work has also been featured in publications including Other Voices, Nerve, the Chicago Reader, and the Believer, as well as several anthologies, including McSweeney’s Future Dictionary of America, The Best Underground Fiction, The Best Show of Their Lives, Loser, After, and Altared. She is the author of the blog Standby Bert (www.elizabethcrane.com/blog/index.html), read by at least a dozen people on a regular basis. Crane is also a regular contributor to Writer’s Block Party on WBEZ Chicago, a columnist for Punk Planet, and two of her short stories have been featured on NPR’s Selected Shorts. In October 2003, she received the Chicago Public Library Twenty-first Century Award, granted by the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Crane teaches creative writing at Northwestern University’s School of Continuing Studies, the School of the Art Institute, and the University of Chicago. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Ben, and their dog, Percy.