A consideration of some of the possibilities and problems involved in making history or science or other non-fictional areas of inquiry the basis of a fiction.
Jim Shepard is the author of seven novels, including most recently The Book of Aron, and five story collections, including The World to Come and most recently Like You’d Understand, Anyway, which was nominated for the National Book Award and won the Story Prize, and You Think That’s Bad. His stories have been included in the Best American, PEN/O.Henry, and Pushcart prize anthologies. He teaches at Williams College.