James Elkins teaches experimental writing at the School of the Art Institute Chicago. His academic writing focuses on the history and theory of images in art, science, and nature. Some of his books are exclusively on fine art (What Painting Is, Why Are Our Pictures Puzzles?). Others include scientific and non-art images, writing systems, and archaeology (The Domain of Images, On Pictures and the Words That Fail Them), and some are about natural history (How to Use Your Eyes). He has been at work on this five-volume novel for twenty-one years. Stories, Like Illnesses, will be published on October 20, 2026.
