“Criminality being partially preordained may seem to let culprits off the hook. Yet it also makes the proclivity seem ineradicable and suggests that reform is unlikely: once a baddie, always a baddie.”

American author, journalist, and cultural commentator

Lionel Shriver is an American author, journalist, and cultural commentator. She is known for fiction and for her sharp public commentary, especially through her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. Her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. Beyond her fiction, she has worked as a journalist and as a commentator on cultural questions, which gives her writing a distinctly observant and argumentative edge.