BRET LOTT is the author of the novels A Song I Knew by Heart, Jewel (an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 1999), Reed’s Beach, A Stranger’s House, The Man Who Owned Vermont, and The Hunt Club; the story collections A Dream of Old Leaves and How to Get Home; and the memoir Fathers, Sons, and Brothers, and Before We Get Started. He and his wife now live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he is editor of The Southern Review and professor of English at Louisiana State University.