About the Author

 

Michael Aaron Rockland is professor of American studies at Rutgers University. His early career, in the United States Diplomatic Service, inspired this memoir. It is his thirteenth book and, in a somewhat different form, was first published in Spanish by the Biblioteca Javier Coy of the University of Valencia Press.

In his writing, Rockland moves back and forth between memoir, fiction, journalism, and history. Five of his books have won prizes or received similar recognition, including New York Times’ “Notable Book of the Year” and Washington Post’s “Fifty Best Books of the Year.” A book he co-wrote, Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike, was chosen by the New Jersey State Library as one of the “Ten Best Books Ever Written on New Jersey or by a New Jerseyan.” Two other books received the prize of the New Jersey Studies Alliance.

Rockland has also worked in television and filmmaking and is a regular contributor to several magazines, most regularly New Jersey Monthly. He has won five major teaching awards, including the national teaching award in American Studies.