William Kotzwinkle published over two dozen books of fiction in the last three decades of the twentieth century, making his mark in virtually every genre, including mystery, science fiction, social satire, erotica, historical fiction, film novelization, and talking-animal fantasies for children and adults alike.

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1938, Kotzwinkle told an interviewer in the early 1990s that his original ambition had been to be an actor, but that he kept coming up with lines in his improvisation class which were much better than his acting, so he became a writer instead. Along the way, he also worked as a sign painter, a shipping clerk in a theatrical supply house, and a department store Santa Claus. As a writer, he was a late bloomer—33 years old when his first book, a collection of short stories entitled Elephant Bangs Train, was published by Pantheon in...