James Howard Kunstler reads from his novel, *The Witch of Hebron*, a sequel to 2008's *World Made by Hand*. In *The Witch of Hebron*, Kunstler expands on his vision of a post-oil society with a new novel about an America in which the electricity has flickered off, the Internet is a distant memory, and the government is little more than a rumor. In the tiny hamlet of Union Grove, New York, travel is horse-drawn and farming is back at the center of life. But it's no pastoral haven. Wars are fought over dwindling resources and illness is a constant presence. Bandits roam the countryside, preying on the weak. And a sinister cult threatens to shatter Union Grove's fragile stability.
James Howard Kunstler was born in New York City in 1948. He is the author of numerous books, both nonfiction (including *The Geography of Nowhere*, *Home from Nowhere*, and *The Long Emergency*) and fiction (including *Maggie Darling*, *The Halloween Ball*, *An Embarrassment of Riches*, and *World Made by Hand*). He has been a regular contributor to the *New York Times Magazine* and the Op-Ed page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues.