René Girard is the Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French Civilization at Stanford University and a member of the Académie française. He is the author of over fifteen books, includingThings Hidden Since the Foundation of the World(Stanford, 1987), andOedipus Unbound: Selected Writings on Rivalry and Desire(Stanford, 2004). Robert Doran is Assistant Professor of French at Middlebury College.