Joseph O'Neill's Netherland (2008) has been one of the most critically exalted novels of the year. James Wood of the New Yorker declared it, "Exquisitely written...a large fictional achievement, and one of the most remarkable post-colonial books I have ever read." O'Neill is the author of two previous novels, This Is the Life and The Breezes, and of a family history, Blood-Dark Track, which was a New York Times Notable Book. He lives with his family in New York City.

The Some Favorite Writers series is sponsored by the UCLA Department of English and Friends of English, and organized by Mona Simpson.