Lou Mathews has written seven books and published three of them, Just Like James, L.A. Breakdown (an L.A. Times Best Book), and Shaky Town, from which "Con Safos Rifa" is excerpted. He has taught in UCLA Extension's acclaimed creative writing program since 1989. His stories have been published in ZYZZYVA, New England Review, Short Story, Black Clock, Paperback L.A., and many fiction anthologies. Mathews is also a journalist, playwright, and passionate cook, as well as a former mechanic, street racer and restaurant critic. He has received a Pushcart Prize, a Katherine Anne Porter Prize, and California Arts Commission and NEA Fiction Fellowships, and is a recipient of the UCLA Extension Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Instructor Awards.
