Currently at work on a novel set in Istanbul. Frequently contributes book reviews to the Miami Herald and The Moscow Times.

This Is Not Civilization received the following awards: The 2005 Maria Thomas Fiction Award for Best Peace Corps Novel, A BookSense Selection, a BookSense Summer 2005 Paperback Reading Pick, A Borders Books Original Voices Selection, Shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize in Literature, A Publisher's Weekly First Fiction Selection, A TimeOut New York Emerging Voices Selection, A Miami Herald "Best Literary Offering of the Season", A Tucson Public Library Southwest Book of the Year, A Powells.com #1 Staff Pick of 2004, One of Library Journal's "Season's Most Successful Debuts"