Peter Mountford grew up in Washington, DC, apart from three formative years in Sri Lanka during the early stages of the Sri Lankan civil war. After earning a degree in International Relations from Pitzer College in 1999, he spent two years as a token liberal at a think tank called the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution. During much of that time, he lived in Ecuador. When he returned to the US, he quit the think tank and began writing fiction. Peter's first novel, A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) won the 2012 Washington State Book Award and was a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize. His second novel, The Dismal Science, was published in February 2014 by Tin House Books. His work on The Dismal Science was supported by grants from the City of Seattle, 4Culture, and the Elizabeth George Foundation. He was also awarded the Wallace Fellowship for a Distinguished Writer from Yaddo in order to work on the book. Peter's short fiction and essays have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, New York Times Magazine, Best New American Voices 2008, Granta, Conjunctions, Salon, Slate, ZYZZYVA and Boston Review, where he won second place in the 2007 contest, judged by George Saunders. He's currently the event curator and writer-in-residence at Hugo House, Seattle's writing center. PRAISE: The Dismal Science is exuberant art, a deep, moving comedy about grief, guilt, and the heart's geopolitics. Mountford writes with soul and style and makes the plight of his protagonist count. -Sam LipsyteIn his fiercely intelligent second novel, Mountford examines, with wry humor and sympathy leavened with a realistic accounting of Vincenzo D'Orsi's flaws and failings, the repercussions of a decision made in haste and -- perhaps -- regretted at leisure. Or not regretted. Who could have ever predicted that an economist at the World Bank could be such a terrific main character? I absolutely loved The Dismal Science.-Nancy PearlThe Dismal Science is a beautiful novel: stark, powerful, and life-affirming. Vincenzo's haunting journey will stay with me for a very, very long time.-Garth SteinQuietly wrenching, sharply drawn and completely un-put-downable. With The Dismal Science, Peter Mountford asserts himself as our generation's most significant business-world ombudsman, a deft and unflinching exponent of the human side of a polarizing world few of us actually understand. --Tea ObrehtA Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism is a terrific debut--smart, moving, beautifully written. Peter Mountford's parable of the voracious global economy reminded me of Graham Greene's The Quiet American in its clear-eyed depiction of the realpolitik of our age.-Jess WalterA Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism is, quite simply, one of the most compelling and thought-provoking novels I've read in years. It's extraordinarily vivid, populated by characters whose fates I cared about desperately, beautifully written, timely beyond measure, but above all it conveys--with impressive precision and nuance--how we are vectors on the grid of global capital; how difficult it is to even attempt to be an authentic, let alone admirable, human being when we are, first and last, cash flow.-David ShieldsPeter Mountford's A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism is a sharp, funny and terrifying novel--in a world so much like our own (part of the terror: it may, in fact, be our world), Gabriel's actions and the reactions of those around him caused me to wonder, again and again: how do I wish to live in this world, and what latitude might I find?-Peter RockPeter Mountford, in his amazing debut as a novelist, has updated the gilded myth of Wall Street swashbucklers in expensive suits and spun it out into the world in a hellbent tale, dramatizing the contorted rationalizations practiced by the financial elite to justify their self-delusion. Forget fame, respect, making the world a better place. Transcend the craving for money by acquiring a truckload of it. Buddha as a hedge fund operator, reallocating soullessness throughout the system.-Bob ShacochisA Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism is a brilliant debut novel, one that is generous in giving readers an original cast of vividly-drawn and unforgettable characters, learned in its knowledge of the interwoven worlds of finance and politics, sexy, and thoroughly cosmopolitan. Peter Mountford is easily one of the most gifted and skillful young writers, already accomplished, I have had the pleasure of reading in many years.-Charles JohnsonIn his debut novel, A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism, Peter Mountford has something important to say about the ambiguous moral ground where the personal meets the political. He has experience and sophistication beyond his years and is well-positioned to mine this vein. This novel is worth your time and attention.-David Guterson