Cécile Cormier is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Bordeaux, France. She researches topics in two entirely distinct fields, namely public administration (especially public budgeting and taxation in the United States), and poetry (American poetry, French Poetry and Chinese classical poetry).
The author would like to thank Pascale Antolin, Nathalie Jaëck, Stéphanie Ravez and Virginia Ricard for their support and for their valuable insights and constructive comments on the earlier English and French versions of this short story.
