Alexander Trocchi (1925-1984) was a Scottish novelist whose numerous works include
Cain's Book. He resided mainly in Paris and New York throughout his life. He was an editor of the literary journal
Merlin, which published works by Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others.
David L. Ulin is the author, most recently, of the novel
Ear to the Ground. His other books include
Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles, a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, and
The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, he spent ten years as book editor and book critic of the
Los Angeles Times.