“Without even knowing why, we believe that to learn how to be human - which we have many years to do, for human beings have longer childhoods than any other species, a feature that to biologists and philosophers alike is one of our race's distinguishing characteristics - children must be surrounded by animal imagery.”

American novelist

Lydia Millet is an American novelist. Her 2020 novel A Children's Bible was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. She has also been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her work has drawn praise for its language and style, with Salon describing it as “flawlessly beautiful” and suggesting that it reaches toward an experience that comes before language itself. The New York Times Book Review named A Children's Bible one of the ten best books of the year.