George Packer is an American writer, teacher, and former Peace Corps volunteer. He was also a writing instructor at Harvard, Bennington, and Emerson Universities. Packer was born on August 13, 1960, in Santa Clara, California. Packer's experience with the Peace Corps helped him write the book The Village is Waiting. He has also written The Half Man, Central Square and The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq. He was a supporter of the Iraq war. He was a finalist for the 2004 Michael Kelly Award. In 2013, Packer's work of nonfiction entitled, The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, won the U.S. National Book Award.