Norman Manea left Romania in 1986 and after a year in West Berlin came to the United States. Since then he has published several acclaimed books in the United States and has been translated into fifteen other languages. He is the recipient of McArthur and Guggenheim Awards, The National Jewish Book Award, and the Literary Lion Medal of the New York Public Library. His last book, The Hooligan's Return, received rave reviews in the American, German, and Italian press, and will be published next year in Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Manea is Francis Flournoy Professor of European Culture and writer in residence at Bard College. He lives with his wife in New York City.