James Fallows has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly for more than thirty-five years and has reported for the magazine from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and across the United States. He is the author of eleven previous books. His work has also appeared in many other magazines and in frequent public radio commentaries since the 1980s. Honors he has received include a National Book Award and a National Magazine Award. For two years he was President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter.
Deborah Fallows is a linguist and writer who holds a PhD in theoretical linguistics and is the author of two previous books. She has also written for many publications, including The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, and The Washington Monthly. She has worked at the Pew Research Center, Oxygen Media, and Georgetown University. She and her husband have two married sons and four grandchildren.