Bob Shacochis's first collection of stories, "Easy in the Islands," won the National Book Award for First Fiction, and his second collection, " The Next New World," was awarded the Prix de Rome from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is also the author of the novel "Swimming in the Volcano," a finalist for the National Book Award, and" The Immaculate Invasion," a work of literary reportage that was a finalist for "The New Yorker" Book Award for Best Nonfiction of the Year. Shacochis is a contributing editor at" Outside," a former columnist for "Gentleman's Quarterly," and has served as a contributing editor for "Harper's" and" GQ." His op-eds on the US military, Haiti, and Florida politics have appeared in" The New York Times," "The Washington Post," and "The Wall Street Journal."