Seth Born­stein has writ­ten plays, short sto­ries, and essays. Swim­ming to Jerusalem is his first nov­el. Born in Brook­lyn, New York, he attend­ed Par­sons School of Design and has had a career in urban eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment with posi­tions in the pub­lic, pri­vate, and aca­d­e­m­ic sec­tors. He is an avid though very slow swim­mer and has par­tic­i­pat­ed in win­ter swim­ming com­pe­ti­tions around the globe. A con­sum­mate city guy, he prides him­self on nev­er need­ing a GPS in Queens and can usu­al­ly find a park­ing space any­where. He resides in New York City with his wife, Diane Loughran.