Matt Bondurant began working on this novel while living and working in London, and finished it while employed by the British Museum, where he first saw the actual Stela of Paser and learned of its elusive and mysterious third translation. A professor at George Mason University and two-time Bread Loaf scholarship winner, he is also the author of short stories that have appeared in Glimmer Train, The New England Review, and numerous other publications. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.