Ken Wheaton was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, in 1973. Raised Catholic and Cajun, Wheaton aspired to one day be a navy pilot but was sidelined by bad eyesight and poor math skills. He graduated from Opelousas Catholic School in 1991 and went off to Southampton College¿Long Island University in Southampton, New York, intending to study marine biology. An excess of drinking and (again) a dearth of math skills led him to become an English major. From there he returned to Louisiana, where he received an MA in creative writing from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana-Lafayette). Wheaton is the author of The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival and the managing editor of the trade publication Advertising Age. A Louisiana native, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.Says Dave Barry: ¿I had several drinks with the author at a party, and based on that experience, I would rank this novel right up there with anything by Marcel Proust.¿