Eliot Weinberger is the author of several collections of literary essays, most recently Oranges & Peanuts For Sale (New Directions, 2009); his political essays have also been collected into several books, including What Happened Here: Bush Chronicles (New Directions, 2005). He has also gained critical recognition as a translator of Spanish and Chinese poetry, including the poets Octavio Paz and Bei Dao. (updated 7/2010)