“The tangible and intangible collide to cast a spell. But can a person or thing ever be stripped naked? Can we ever discover reality hiding under the meanings we give to people and things? I don't think so. And I don't think Fitzgerald thought so either. His book meditates on the necessity of fiction, not only as lies but as truths.”

American novelist and essayist

Siri Hustvedt is an American novelist and essayist known for her wide-ranging prose across fiction and nonfiction. She is the author of a book of poetry, seven novels, two books of essays, and several works of nonfiction. Her books include The Blindfold, The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, What I Loved, A Plea for Eros, The Sorrows of an American, The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves, The Summer Without Men, Living, Thinking, Looking, The Blazing World, Memories of the Future, and Ghost Stories. What I Loved is the book for which she is best known, and What I Loved and The Summer Without Men were international bestsellers. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages.