COREY MESLER is the owner of Burkes Book Store in Memphis, Tennessee, one of the country’s oldest (1875) independent bookstores. He has published poetry and fiction in numerous journals including Rattle and Pindeldyboz. He has also been a book reviewer for The Memphis Commercial Appeal. A short story of his was chosen for the 2002 edition of New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best, published by Algonquin Books. Talk, his first novel, appeared in 2002. He has a new novel, We Are Billion-Year-Old Carbon, due out in 2005 from Livingston. His latest four poetry chapbooks are Chin-Chin in Eden (2003), Dark on Purpose (2004), Short Story and Other Short Stories (2006), and The Heart is Open (2006). Most importantly, he is Toby and Chloe’s dad and Cheryl’s husband.