Growing up in Vermont, Erik E. Esckilsen held a few part-time jobs too frightening to write about before landing a position selling shoes at the local mall. That experience left an indelible impression, inspiring this book and sending him fleeing from retail sales forever. Since then, he has driven a cab, played in rock-'n'-roll bands, traveled the world, and worked as a journalist with such publications as Entertainment Weekly and the Boston Globe. He lives and writes in Vermont and New York City.