Richard Yates was born in 1926 in New York and lived in California. His prize-winning stories began to appear in 1953 and his first novel, Revolutionary Road, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. He is the author of eight other works, including the novels A Good School, The Easter Parade, and Disturbing the Peace, and two collections of short stories, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness and Liars in Love. He died in 1992.

"A beautiful book" -- Joan Didion "Wonderful" -- Andre Dubus "So quotidian, so possible, so plausible, that it is more terrifying to read...than to read of the disasters and massacres of kings" Harper's "Every good writer I know acknowledges Yates as a master" -- Kurt Vonnegut "Yates's trademark blackness does not seem out of place or excessive... the skilful sketches of Prentice's colleagues bring an element of humanity to a sordid and inhumane topic" -- Leyla Sanai www.rocksbackpagesblogs.com