Justin Cronin is the author of the widely praised novel-in-stories Mary and O'Neil, which won the 2002 PEN/Hemingway Award and the Stephen Crane Prize, both for best debut fiction of the year. Other major honors received for his fiction include a prestigious Whiting Writer's Award, an NEA fellowship, a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and the National Novella Award. His most recent novel, The Summer Guest, fulfills the promise of his earlier fiction. One noted critic remarks that "with a rare combination of emotional insight, narrative power, and lyrical grace, Cronin transforms the simple story of a dying man's last wish into a rich tapestry of family love." Other writing appears or is forthcoming in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Food and Wine, Five Points, Gulf Coast, and others. Born and raised in New England, he is a professor of English at Rice University.