Bob Shacochis won the National Book Award for his collection of stories Easy in the Islands. In response to that collection, Robert Stone called him "one of the most talented young writers working in America today" and Barry Hannah said, "If there's a better writer in the States . . . I ain't found him." Among his many other honors and awards are the American Academy of Arts and Letters Rome Prize, a James Michener Award, and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. He is also author of a novel, Swimming Under a Volcano, and a second collection of stories, The Next New World. His journalism and essays frequently appear in Harper's and other national magazines.
