A native of Chamalières in the Auvergne region of central France, Renaud Camus (b. 1946) is one of France's most brilliant stylists and the author of more than 150 books. Tricks, his first and only work to be translated into English until now, appeared in 1979 and was prefaced by Roland Barthes, one of twentieth-century France's greatest literary critics and Camus' mentor. In addition to the political essays collected in Enemy of the Disaster, Camus is also known for works of fiction, philosophy, travel writing, art criticism, and the extensive diary he has kept and published for over forty years. He lives in the Chateau de Plieux in the village of Plieux in southwestern France and is the president of a small political party, the Party of In-nocence, which advocates immigration and education reform and the promotion of civic peace.