Leonard Chang was born in New York and studied philosophy at Dartmouth College and Harvard University. He received his MFA from the University of California at Irvine, and is the author of six previous critically acclaimed novels. His books have been translated into Japanese, French, and Korean, and are taught at universities around the world. His short stories have been published in literary journals such as Prairie Schooner and The Literary Review. He writes for the TV drama, Justified.