John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of twenty-five novels, some of them under the pen name Benjamin Black, and his acclaimed works include The Book of Evidence, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and The Sea, which won the prize in 2005. He has also been awarded the Franz Kafka Prize, among others. Banville lives in Dublin.
Ireland's finest contemporary novelist. -- The Economist Mr. Banville is that rare writer who can pack all five senses into one declarative sentence. -- The Wall Street Journal As remarkable a literary voice as any to come out of Ireland, Joyce and Beckett notwithstanding. -- The San Francisco Chronicle When he was younger, Banville notes, he believed that really to get under the skin of a city one had to fall in love there. Prague, promiscuous and secretive, appears to have offered him another possibility. To understand a little more of himself, he first had to fall in love with a city. -- The Guardian Each anecdote, each site, each person recollected in memory is wonderfully evocative of the place. This is a beautiful book, lovely to hold and admire. -- Washington Times