Pamela Erens is the author of the novels Eleven Hours, The Virgins, and The Understory, all from Tin House Books. She has been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and the John Gardner Fiction Book Award. Erens's essays and criticism have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Virginia Quarterly Review, Slate, The Millions, Aeon, Vogue, and Elle.