Richard Powers is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

ist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology.
Powers was born in Evanston

Evanston, Illinois

Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, and his family later moved a few miles south to Lincolnwood

Lincolnwood, Illinois

Lincolnwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,359 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lincolnwood is located at ....

, where his father was the principal at a local school. When Powers was 11, his family moved again, this time to Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, where his father had accepted a position at International School Bangkok

International School Bangkok

The International School of Bangkok is in the western-style community of Nichada Thani, in Nonthaburi Province.- ISB history :ISB opened in 1951. Its initial enrollment was 50 children of United Nations and U.S. diplomats. First located on Rajadamri Road, ISB expanded to provide both primary and...

. Powers attended the school through his freshman year, ending in 1972.